When Heroes Fall
by PlagueOfPrague
Summary: Takes place four months after 'Grave'. Spike's back in Sunnydale after his little trip to Africa. Much to his surprise, roles are reversed and Buffy's the one defending him from the big bad world of the living. B/S *COMPLETE!!*
1. Welcome back?

"**When Heroes Fall**"

_All characters © Joss, I'm just borrowing._

_Takes place four months after the events in 'Grave'_

_Please review! I appreciate any ideas and suggestions you may have!_

Spike could feel his eyes watering up again as he raised his hand to knock. He wasn't sure he could do this, not after what he had done to her. He sniffled and knocked quickly before he lost his nerve. He stood there a few moments, waiting. No one answered. He sighed and sat down on the steps, running his hands through his unruly hair. He'd wait for her, they had to talk.

"Spike?"

He turned to find Buffy standing in the doorway, her hair up in a towel and body clad in a tanktop and pajama pants. She must have been in the shower when he had knocked… in the same bathroom he had almost raped her in. He swallowed the lump in his throat and attempted a small smile, but failed miserably. "'ey pet." He greeted, standing.

"Spike, what the Hell happened to you?" She asked, stepping outside to stand in front of him. His eyes were puffy and red, and despite the fact that he was dead, the blue orbs were no longer full of life. They were dull, glazed over by unspilt tears. He looked pale, well, paler then usual, if that was possible. She tried to look cross with him, but she couldn't bring herself to be as mad at the vamp as she had expected to be. He looked too…. Pitiful.

"I'm so sorry, Buffy…" he whispered.

"Where were you, Spike? It's been four months…" She questioned, scanning his face. God did he look horrible.

He couldn't help but give her a small grin. "You really wanna know where I was?"

She smiled lightly when he grinned. It made him look much less like a ghost of his former self. "Yes."

"…Africa."

Buffy's face scrunched up. "…Africa?" Spike nodded. "Africa as in…" she shook her head in disbelief, smiling a bit herself. "You were in Africa?"

"Yup."

"Why the Hell would you go to Africa?"

His smile faded and he sighed. "Slayer, after what I did to you, I felt horrible. I felt guilty. For the first time I actually **felt** like the monster you always accuse me of being. I didn't know what else to do, so I…"

"..went to Africa?" she finished for him, smirking. "I mean, if you were gonna run away, wouldn't it make more sense to, I don't know, go somewhere worth running? You know, maybe the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida…."

"Those places would all be bloody peachy for vacationing if I didn't suffer from a severe allergy to the sun." He smiled as he shook his head. "'sides, I wasn't running away. I didn't want to be anywhere but here…with you."  

"Then why the Hell did you leave, I mean, it sure looked like you were running from my perspective." She demanded. How dare he show up after four months and expect to be welcomed back with open arms. 

Spike sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's kind of a long story."

"I have all night." She answered quickly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Spike nodded and looked around, trying to gather his thoughts. It had been much easier to talk to her when he had rehearsed what he was going to say in his head, but now that she was right in front of him he was at a loss for words. He watched as she ran her hand up and down her arms. "You're cold." He pointed out.

"Huh? Oh yeah, a little. I'll be fine."

"I'd give you my coat, but I sort of left it here 'fore I left." He said with a shrug.

"Yeah, it's inside." She sighed and dropped her arms to the side. "Come on." She instructed, pushing the door open and stepping inside. She closed it quietly as he followed her inside. "We have to be quiet, Dawn's asleep."

He smiled slightly. "How's she doing?"

Buffy sighed and shook her head. "Well, if you really wanna know, she's pretty pissed at you for leaving." She watched as he nodded his head glumly, understanding. The girl had every right to be mad at him. "But other than that she's been great. She's doing better in school, she's started working at the Magick Shop with Anya for extra cash, and… well, she's been training with Giles."

"Training? Giles? When did he get back?"

"A little while after you left…" She said softly, diverting her eyes to the ground.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" He asked softly, ducking his head down to look her in the eye. "What happened?"

She smiled grimly and shook her head. "When you left, Warren showed up. He…he tried to kill me. He shot me." She watched as Spike's eyes went wide. "I was taken to the hospital, I almost died. But then Willow showed up… God. There was something wrong with her. She was pale, her hair was black, she wasn't Willow anymore." She shook her head. "She saved me, then insisted on looking for Warren. We went after him, found a robot instead. Then she told us… she told us that he had killed Tara. He shot her when he came after me."

"Pixie's dead?" he asked softly. 

Buffy nodded. "Willow was using magick again. **A lot** of it. She disappeared so me and Xander headed back here. When we went upstairs, Dawn was up there, with Tara. God, she was so upset." She looked up at him, her eyes watery. "She wanted to stay with you, but you weren't there. I left her with Clem and went to look for Willow myself. Me, Xander, and Anya found her in the woods… with Warren. She had killed him, but not just killed him, she had tortured him, shredded him apart. It was so awful… " she shook her head once more. "Then she went after Jonathan and Andrew…"

"Andrew?"

"That other guy."

Spike nodded understandingly.

"Anyway, Willow started to tear the jail apart trying to get at them. I mean she was **literally** tearing the place apart, brick by brick. I showed up and got them out of there. Xander stole a police car and we tried to get away. She somehow got control of a semi and started ramming us, but she ran out of power. We took Jonathan and Andrew back to the Magick Box and Xander and Anya worked on a protection spell for them. I went after Willow. She was at Rack's, with Dawn. She had drained Rack's power and was trying to change Dawn back to whatever she was before when I showed up. She teleported us back to the Magick Shop and tried to kill those two goons, but couldn't use magick to hurt them because of the protection spell, so she put a spell on herself. She made herself strong. And then we fought…" she closed her eyes at the memory of having to fight her best friend.

"Buffy…" Spike looked at her with loving eyes as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Well, Xander, Dawn, Jonathan, and Andrew took off. Anya stayed to keep the spell going. Willow beat the crap out of both of us and then Giles showed up. He had some magick from a covent and put a binding spell on her. She brainwashed Anya into freeing her a little while later and sent a magick ball of fire after Jonathan and them. I went after it because it would have killed Dawn and Xander too. Willow stole Giles' power while I was gone and nearly killed him. I got to Xander and them just as the fire thingy hit. Xander was knocked out and me and Dawn fell down into some type of burial pit. Jonathan and Andrew disappeared. Then Willow…she tried to end the world. Dawn had to help me fight these demons she sent after us and Anya stayed with Giles because he was just about dead. Xander found Willow as she was summoning some ancient satanic temple. He stopped her."

"Whelp?"

"Yeah, Xander stopped the apocolypse." Buffy said, smiling a bit herself. "Giles got better, Dawn's been training with him, Xander doesn't feel so useless anymore, him and Anya can hold a civilized conversation now…. But Willow's different. I don't think she ever be the same…" she trailed off, looking to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, Buffy…" He said gently, pulling her into his arms. She sighed heavily into his chest, taking in everything she had just said. Saying it out loud only made her realize how horrible things had been. Spike pulled away from her, smiling as he brushed her hair from her face. "What about you?"

"What?" she asked quietly, looking at him with a confused expression.

"You told me 'bout everyone else, but how are you doing?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm hangin' in there." She ran her hand over her face and looked at him, "I'm sorry, God. I doubt you wanted to hear all that." She shook her head once more and rolled her eyes. "So, what exactly did you do in Africa."

He smirked and scratched his head. "Well, it's not nearly as exciting as what you did while I was gone…"

TBC….

**********

Well, what do you think? Should I keep going? Let me know and please review!!


	2. Soulful...

Buffy sat on the couch, staring wide eyed at Spike. He was standing in front of her, not sure what else to say. "A soul?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah pet, seems I didn't quite want what I thought I did." He said, sitting down next to her.

"That's why you left?" She asked, looking over at him. "To get your soul back?"

"Not quite." He sighed and rubbed his hands together, dropping his eyes to the floor. "I never really wanted to be a poof like Peaches…Iwenttogetthechipout." He mumbled, not looking at her.

"What?" she asked, taken aback. "You wanted the chip out?' She felt more let down in hearing that one statement than when she had seen him and Anya together… He wanted to be a killer again.

"I thought so. I figured that if I got the chip out I could just be me again, you know, go on some mad killing spree… maybe come back here, kill you lot." He took an unnecessary breath. "Or.."

"..or?" she asked softly, trying to get him to look at her.

"Or I'd come back here and prove to you it wasn't the chip that kept me from killing. It was you." He looked into her eyes and shrugged. "I thought that was what I wanted, but that demon knew it wasn't true, even if I didn't. When I finished the trials, I told him…I told him to give me what I needed to take care of you, to give you what you deserved. I thought I wanted to get something to hurt you, but wound up with a bloody soul instead…"

She stared at him in shock. He had wanted to kill her. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I didn't have anything else to point a finger at, so I blamed the chip. I know I could hurt you before, but just the thought of it drove me mad. I would never have hurt you, Buffy. Never. I guess I thought it was the chip that made me love you and if it was gone I could kill you with no problem." He smiled and shook his head. "Boy was I wrong…"

"It doesn't work anymore?" she asked softly, trying to take all this in. Spike went to Africa to get the chip out. He got his soul back instead. And now the chip didn't work? Dammit, she hated her life.

"No." he answered simply.

"Have you…"

"…killed anyone? No." He looked back to the ground nervously, resting his hands in his lap. So what if he hadn't killed anyone? That was no reason for her to forgive him, not after what he had done to her. His eyes shot up as she entwined her small hand in his and smiled.

"Thank you."

He looked at her like she was mad. _Okay, not quite what I was expecting…_ "You feelin' okay, Slayer?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Spike, believe it or not, seeing you again was the best thing to happen in the past few months. Everything's been Hell: Willow's depressed, Giles is leaving soon… As hard as it is to believe," she sighed and looked at him. "I missed you…. a lot" 

----------

"So Dawn's really fighting demons and what not now?" Spike asked, his hands buried in the pockets of his duster as he walked alongside the slayer.

Buffy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I won't let her patrol by herself, but she comes along with me. She'll probably be pretty mad that we didn't wake her and bring her with us."

"She'll probably be pretty mad that I'm back." Spike corrected.

"Maybe, but she'll get over it. She loves you." Buffy assured him.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Remind me to have a chat with her about that, it's an unhealthy habit."

"Yeah, I guess vampires and love don't mix very well. I mean, look at what happened with me and Angel…" She halted and looked at him. "You don't have that little…clause, do you?"

He grinned. "Nope, no soul-slipping for me. I'm stuck with the bloody thing for good."

She couldn't help but smile as she started to walk again. "Good."

"What's that s'posed to mean?" He asked, grinning. God, he hadn't smiled this much since that bloody creature had given him his soul. Hell, he hadn't smiled at all – he cried. But he had been back in Sunnydale for barely more than an hour and Buffy had him grinning like a idiot.

She shook her head but didn't reply. "Maybe we should head back, the sun'll be up in a few hours and it doesn't look like very many creatures-of-the-night are wandering the street."

"I guess so, 'sides, you should get some sleep."

"Me? Look at you, you look like you haven't slept in months." She shot back playfully. He didn't respond. Her face fell. "Oh…"

He shrugged. "Nightmares… well, not really, more like memories."

"Sorry."

"S'not a big deal." He shrugged and grinned at her, trying to lighten the mood back up. "I'll live."

She smiled warmly. "Yeah, you will."

He smiled adoringly at her, amazed. He couldn't believe how many sides this girl had. One minute she was Pyscho-Bitch-Slayer ready to tear his head from his shoulders and the next she was smiling and joking with him like they were old friends. And you know what? It didn't matter, he loved every bit of her. "You want me to walk you home 'fore I go back t'my crypt?"

"Your crypt?" She asked, stopping once more. "Uh, you can't do that."

"And why not?" he asked, giving her a coy smile.

"Well, Clem sorta got tired of squatting there and left. Some D'ygryme demons are kinda staying there now." She said sheepishly.

He remained quiet for a moment. "Bugger…"

"Don't worry too much," she paused for a minute. "I went back and got most of your stuff before they could destroy it. It's all in my basement." He looked at her, thoroughly surprised. She smiled and offered him her hand. "Come on, you can sleep on the couch tonight."

---------

Spike laid there on the Summer's couch, his hands folded behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling. A silent tear rolled down his face. He had gotten an hour of sleep at most before being jolted awake by another of his gruesome memories. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep so he just sat there, trying to clear his mind. His head rolled over to look at the clock. 7:03am. He sighed and was about to back to his staring contest with the ceiling when he heard Buffy come clomping down the stairs. He wiped the tears from his face and walked over to the stairs to greet her, "'ey Slayer, sleep g…."

Dawn stopped dead halfway down the stairs and stared at the blonde vampire with wide eyes.

Spike gave her a small smile. "'ey Bit…"

"Spike?" she asked, knitting her brows together. "When did you get back?"

"Last night."

Her eyes continued to scan his face as she descended the rest of the stairs. She ran her warm fingers down the side of his face. "God, you look horrible…"

He chuckled. "I'm fine, Nibblet."

Her shocked expression suddenly faded into one of anger. She pulled her hand from his face for a brief second… and slapped him. "Where the Hell where you?!"

"Bugger…" He muttered, rubbing the spot where she had hit him. The girl could hit, he'd give her that. He shook his head and dropped his arms to the side. "Guess I deserved that."

"You deserve a lot more than that, Spike." The teen spat angrily.

Spike took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was the type of reaction he had expected from Buffy, not Dawn. "I'm sorry, Bit. I had some things I had to think about."

"What? About how you tried to rape Buffy?" she shot stubbornly.

His eyes grew wide and he looked at her in disbelief. "She told you?"

Dawn cross her arms defiantly over her chest. "…No. I found out… someone told me, not her." She dropped her arms and shook her head in disgust. "You know, you were the last person I'd expect to run from your problems."

"Bit, I wasn't runni…"

"And you know what bothers me the most?" She asked angrily. He cocked his head to the side, watching her angry features. "You didn't bother to say goodbye, not to her, not to me, not to anyone." She spat, pushing past him and grabbing her coat.

"Dawn…" He tried to explain as he turned to follow her. She threw the front door open, sending a wave of sunlight over her body. Spike halted, staring at her in despair. He wanted to go after her, but the stream of sunlight prevented him from going any further. She glared at him.

"I have to go to school." She raised her eyebrows and clenched her jaw. "You're free to walk with me if you really wanna talk." They both stood there for a moment, silent, before she shook her head and disappeared out the door. Spike stood there staring at the door is disbelief.

"You okay?" Spike jumped when he felt Buffy's hand on his shoulder. "I told you she was mad."

"She hates me…"

"She doesn't hate you. She's mad because she loved you, looked up to you, and you left. I know Dawn, she's glad you're back."

He let out a grim laugh. "She's the only one I thought would be glad to see me… and she won't even look at me."

"Spike, she's not the only one glad to see you." he turned his head away from the door to look at her. She smiled. "I have to go to the shop to talk with Giles, you wanna come?"

He shrugged.

"Come on, you've been on your own for four months, I think some social time would be good."

"Social time with people who hate me?" he asked skeptically.

"Social time with people who **will** learn to except you. You gotta start somewhere."

----------

"Oh, there you are Buffy. I've been waiting for you." Giles said as he looked up from the weapons cabinet in the training room.

"Sorry, had to make a pit stop on the way, pick some things up."

"It's quite alright. It's just…I have something I want to tell you." 

"Oh, good, cause there's something I have to tell you too, but you first." She said, smiling. He was gonna flip when she told him about Spike.

He sighed. "Buffy, I'm leaving tomorrow morning." He took his glasses from the bridge of his nose and squinted at them as if looking for a smudge on the glass, trying not to look at her stricken expression.

"Tomorrow?" Buffy asked quietly. "Giles, isn't that a bit soon? I mean, what about Dawn? You're supposed to be training her, remember?" she asked frantically, trying to come up with a reason for him to stay.

"Buffy, there's nothing I can teach her that you can't. You can teach her just as well as I can, if not better." He assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You just have to be strong."

Buffy shook her head. "What about Willow? Giles, she needs you, Xander needs you, I need you…"

He smiled fondly at the girl. "No, Buffy, you don't. You'll be strong, and you'll survive, just like you always do."

The slayer clenched her teeth to keep from crying. Why did he always have to leave? Couldn't he see that they all wanted him to stay here? "Do the others know?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm going to tell them later. I thought you should be the first to know." She nodded solemnly as he pulled her into a hug. "Come on, we can talk about it some more when the others get here." He told her as he began to walk towards the door. He grabbed his cup of tea from the table by the door and walked out into the main part of the newly-rebuilt Magick Shop. Buffy followed behind him. "Now what was it you wanted to tell m…." He dropped the cup, shattering it.

Spike's head shot up from the book he had been flipping through on the table. He grinned at the expression on the Watcher's face and swung his boots up to rest on the table. "'ello Rupes."

"Oh, yeah. Spike's sorta…back." Buffy muttered, looking at Giles nervously. She waved her hand in front of his face. "You okay?"

TBC….


	3. Defending the helpless

Giles looked up from the counter, eyeing Spike and Buffy suspiciously. They were sitting next to each other at the table, flipping through a demon book and exchanging tales of the ones they had fought. Buffy was grinning as Spike told her about one of the numerous strange demons he had encountered in Africa. Apparently the thing had been about two feet tall and found it funny to gnaw on his leg while he tried to sleep. The humorous part? It didn't have any teeth.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Giles asked himself quietly, returning his gaze to the bills in front of him. It had cost a pretty penny to get the shop back up and running again, not to mention that half of the items had been destroyed. Part of him wanted to pummel Spike for daring to come back, soul or not, but another part wanted to thank him. He hadn't seen Buffy this happy in a long time and he was glad, even if it was Spike who was making her smile. She had even seemed to dismiss the fact that he was leaving tomorrow.

"Giles, the last of the supplies are here, you wanna give me a hand?" Anya called from the door, trying without luck to peer over the stack of boxes in her arms as she pushed through the door. Giles walked around the counter and took the top few boxes from her, ensuring that she wouldn't drop the stack.

She dropped them as soon as she could see.

"Spike, you're back." She stated, surprised to see the vampire seated at the table. What was even more surprising was that he was seated next to Buffy… and they were smiling. They were being –civil-.

"So we've noticed." Giles exclaimed, setting the boxes he had managed to save on the counter and beginning to clean his glasses. Something told him that his last day in Sunnydale was going to be quite interesting…

"Come off it, Watcher, you missed me." Spike chided.

"Oh yes, I seem to remember wanting you around the other day when I had to fill those bottles of Holy Water for the shop's supply. I thought it would be a perfect job for you."

Spike scowled. "Ponce…"

"Both of you, stop." Buffy commanded, looking back and forth between the room's British occupants. Giles rolled his eyes and Spike grinned.

"Yes Slayer."

---------

"Hey An, is Buffy here?" Dawn asked as she walked through the door, tossing her bookbag absently on the table.

"Yes. Her and Spike are in the training room." Anya answered, not looking up from the list of items she was reading.

"Spike's here?" Dawn asked nervously. 

Anya looked up. "You didn't know he was back?"

"No, I knew. I just… nevermind." She feigned a smile and looked around. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Well, there are some boxes in the corner over there, I suppose you could put the stuff in 'em away."

"Sounds good." Dawn said halfheartedly. Great, now Buffy would just forget about her again…

----------

Buffy dodged Spike's punch easily and dropped to the ground, sweeping her leg under him. He landed with a hard thump on his back. Buffy pouted. "You're not trying."

"Am too." He protested, climbing back to his feet. "You're forgetting, I'm running on 'bout an hour of sleep."

"You had another nightmare last night?" she questioned, taking the tape she had wrapped around her hands off. Evidently they weren't going to get much further with this sparring thing.

"The question is 'when don't I?'. Bloody things keep me awake all the time. I think I've gotten roughly two days of sleep in the past four months. S'not good for you, even if you're dead." He finished, grinning.

"Sorry." She said, giving him a sympathetic glance. He really did look tired, even if he wasn't acting like it.

"Don't fret about it, luv. They have to stop some time."

"Yeah, I guess…." Buffy replied. She remembered how Angel had told her he still had nightmares… and he'd had his soul for a rather long time. 

"What's a'matter?" he asked, watching her.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." She muttered, shaking her head. She felt bad for him, he **did** look like he hadn't slept in days. She suddenly looked up, a contemplative look on her face. "Do sleeping pills work on vampires?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Don't know, luv, but I wouldn't oppose to testin' the idea right now."

"You're that desperate, huh?" she asked, grinning.

"You have no idea." He answered, smiling and shaking his head.

"Well then come on, Soulboy. There's nothin' t'do around here, we might as well go swing by the drugstore." She said, grabbing his hand and hauling him towards the door.

"You're serious 'bout this?" he asked quizzically. 

"Yup. Plus the butcher shop is nearby, we can pick you up some blood."

They walked out into the main part of the shop. Giles and Anya didn't look up from their position at the counter, but Dawn scowled at them from the corner. "Buffy, pet, how do you plan on doing this? The sun's sorta out."

"We can take the sewers." She answered simply. She caught a glimpse of Dawn out of the corner of her eye and grinned. "Hey Dawnie."

"'ey Nibblet."

Dawn looked back and forth between the two. "Hey Buffy." She said halfheartedly before going back to the books she was putting away. Buffy offered Spike a small smile as they headed towards the basement door.

"Where are you going?" Giles asked, watching the pair.

"To get some blood." Buffy answered, deciding to leave the sleeping pills out of it. Mentioning them would mean the nightmares would come up and she doubted Spike really wanted to talk about them. "We'll be back in a bit."

"Wouldn't it be wise to wait until the sun goes down?" Anya asked, looking at them skeptically.

"Why? It's not like there's anything going on here. Besides, we're patrolling tonight, no time for luxury shopping." Buffy smiled and began to walk down the steps, Spike following behind her. Giles and Anya's eyes both shot to look at Dawn as the teen slammed one of the books into the shelf, causing the whole thing to shake.

----------

"Hey! G-man, An, Dawn. What's up?" Xander greeted as he walked through the front door. Willow followed behind him, not speaking. The sun had just set on the streets of Sunnydale. Xander waited for an answer as Dawn continued to roughly shove books onto the shelf, Anya occupied herself with counting money, and Giles began to clean his glasses. "Well, talkative bunch today, aren't we?" He commented, rubbing his hands together.

"Long day." Giles explained.

Willow took a seat at the table and curled her legs up underneath her. "New badie in town?"

Giles let out an ironic chuckle. "More like an old badie, actually."

"Okay, old as in around-since-medieval-times, or old as in we've-fought-'em-before?" Xander asked.

"The latter."

"So that would be…"

"The second one." Giles informed the boy.

"Ahh, so who is it? Adam, The Master, Glory, that big snake thing, the Mayor…?" Xander began to ramble.

"I do believe we get the idea." Giles interrupted, not needing a recap of all the things they had fought.

"So who is it?" Willow asked.

"Actually, it's…" Giles began.

"Spike." Xander spat venomously.

"Don't be silly, Xander, Spike's…" Willow started.

"Right there." Xander pointed out as the vampire and Buffy appeared through the front door.

"Oh look, if it isn't the Whelp." Spike said sarcastically. "Now my day's complete."

"Great, the bleached wonder's back." Xander stated. "You know, you finally do something good – you know, the whole 'leaving'- then you ruin it by coming back. Don't you know how to take a hint? No one wants you here, you're useless." He glared at the vampire, then gazed at Buffy. "We don't need you hurting anyone else. You're nothing but…"

"Xander, stoppit." Buffy commanded, stepping between the fuming boy and the bleached vampire.

"Oh, so your defending Mr. Attempted Rape now? That's great, Buffy, let's all set some good examples for Dawn. 'Hey Dawn! It's okay to murder innocent people and then pretend that it's okay! It's okay to try and rape people and still say you love them!'" All eyes in the room were locked on him now, shocked, all except Spike, who had dropped his to the floor. "What's the matter bleach boy? You finally realizing how worthless you are? Are you finally…"

Buffy grabbed her friend by the collar of his shirt, silencing him instantly. "I. Said. Stop." She glared at him for a moment, making sure he got the idea, then let him go roughly. "That's enough." She spat, stepping back alongside the vampire.

"Buffy…" Xander began.

"Don't." she ordered, pointing a finger warningly at him. All the room's occupants remained silent, staring at the trio in the center of the room. Was Buffy actually defending Spike? The world must be coming to an end…

"So, how you been?" Surprisingly, it was Willow who broke the uncomfortable silence. Eyes focused on her, seeing as she hadn't been one for much conversation over the past few months, she just moped around.

Spike looked back up at Xander, masking the pain on his face with a smirk. Walking over to the table, he took a seat next to the former witch. "Not too bad, Red. How 'bout you?"

"Eh, so-so, I guess. So, you back for good?"

Spike looked up at Buffy, who was watching them, along with everyone else. He turned back to Willow and smiled. "Dunno, luv. We'll just have to wait and see." He looked back up at Buffy and smiled. She returned it before turning back to Xander and grabbing him by the sleeve, dragging him back into the training room with her.

"What's your problem?" She demanded as she shut the door.

"My problem? Buffy, that's Spike! You know, the vampire who tried to rape you?"

"Xander, that was… he didn't mean to."

"Buffy, I don't know what you're thinking, but here in the real world, you don't accidentally rape someone."

"He didn't **do** anything, Xander." She ground out.

"He tried, Buffy. And what makes you so sure he won't try it again? You honestly think four months away from here and he's going to have a change of heart?" Xander protested.

"118 days…"

"…What?"

"It wasn't four months, it was 118 days, not quite four months..."

"Whatever, Buffy, do you think 118 days away and he's going to suddenly grow a conscious?"

She chuckled grimly. "You'd be surprised."

He stared at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"He's got a soul, Xander. He's got **his** soul…"

"But he's still a vampire. He's still a monster. He's a cruel, heartless monster."

Buffy looked up at him, her features cross. "You know, Xander, if Spike really wanted to be as cruel as you say he is, I know where he could learn. From you." she shook her head and pushed past him, walking back out into the main part of the shop.

TBC… 


	4. Goodbyes

"You okay pet?" Spike asked, staring at Buffy, who was seated beside him. She had her arms folded on the table, her head resting upon them.

"Yeah…" she answered quietly. Giles had told the others a short while before that he was leaving, even though the tension in the air was bad enough without the news. Xander had left a little while ago, not wanting to be around Spike any longer. Dawn had gone over Janice's house for the night, and Giles had gone home to finish packing. Anya was up in the upper part of the shop, sorting through books, and Willow was sitting at the table opposite of Spike and Buffy, just thinking.

"It's not like he's leaving for good." He told her gently, tilting his head to the side a bit. "He'll be back."

Buffy sighed and sat up, running her fingers through her hair. "I know. It's kinda funny, he always leaves when things get weird."

Spike chuckled. "You'll be fine without 'im, Slayer."

Buffy nodded and smiled over at Willow. "Yeah, we'll survive. We always do." Willow gave her a small smile and nod before yawning.

"I think we're all a bit wiped." She looked over at Spike, smirking slightly. "Some a bit more than others. What d'you say we blow off patrol tonight? I think we could all do with a bit of sleep." She looked back at Willow. "You gonna go now or stay here?"

"I think I'll hang around here for a bit, I don't think Xander's gonna be very good company tonight." She said with a small smile.

Buffy nodded and stood, walking over to her best friend. She wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her. "It's good to see you smile again." She pulled away and smiled at the redhead.

"You too." Willow said, brightening up a bit and smiling over at Spike. "Goodnight."

"'night Will."

"See y'round, Red." Spike said, smiling and heading towards the door.

"Anya, we're leaving!" Buffy called up to the loft.

"Bye!" The vengence demon called down. Buffy gave Willow a small wave before disappearing out the door with Spike.

"She doesn't live with you anymore?" Spike asked her once they got away from the shop.

"Willow? Nah, she's been staying with Xander. He's home a lot more than me and Dawn and both of them could use some company."

Spike nodded. "So how's she been doin'? You know, after what happened with Pixie…"

"Well, she's doing better now. She used to be bad, I mean, locking herself up for days at a time and just crying. She barely ate and whatever she did manage to eat she usually ended up puking up."

"Thanks, Slayer, I'm no longer hungry."

"Sorry. Anyway, she started staying with Xander a few weeks after she tried to destroy the world. She doesn't cry as much now, but she doesn't talk much. She just seems so… withdrawn from everything, you know?"

"Sort of like you."

"What?"

"When they brought you back, you weren't exactly Ms. School Spirit." He said, smirking.

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess. She seemed better today though. She was **smiling**. I don't even remember the last time I saw her smile." She looked up at him as she walked, giving him a sincere smile. "And it's because of you. Thanks."

"I seem to be having that effect on people lately… well, no  I take that back. Just you 'n Red. Everyone else seems to thoroughly despise me."

"Xander - yes. Dawn - no. Giles - maybe. Anya - no."

"Slayer, Dawn refuses to even look at me."

"No she doesn't…well, okay, so maybe she just glares. But that's not the point."

"I appreciate the attempt to make me feel better." He said, throwing his arm across her shoulder.

"Did it work?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Little bit."

"Good. Feeling bad is….bad."

"Glad to see your vocabulary has been extended since I left."

----------

"You okay?" Buffy asked quietly, poking her head into Willow's old room. She had told Spike he could take the bed in there since it wasn't being used. He turned his head to face her, the tears on his face illuminated by the light from the hallway. She gave him a small smile and walked in. "I take it sleeping pills **don't** work on vampires."

He chuckled slightly as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Guess not."

Buffy tilted her head to the side and watched as he returned his gaze to the ceiling, his hands folded behind his head. "I'm sorry."

He turned to look at her, confused. "For what?"

"That you can't sleep."

"S'not your fault."

She shrugged. "I'm still sorry."

"Thanks, pet."

"No problem."

He gave her a small smile and sat up, throwing his feet over the side of the bed.

"Where you going?" Buffy asked as he stood.

"T'watch TV. M'not gonna be getting anymore sleep t'night anyway, might as well keep myself occupied." He walked out the door and turned to stare at her when she followed. "What are you doing?"

"Going with you."

"Slayer, it's three-thirty in the morning, go get some sleep."

"I can sleep downstairs." She said with a smile. He just shook his head and followed her down the stairs.

----------

"I hate these movies." Buffy whined, staring at the television screen. "They're so fake."

"Buffy, luv, it's Dracula."

"I know Dracula and that's **not** what Dracula looks like."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever you say, now scoot over, you're hoggin' the couch."

"Am not." She protested, looking over at him. He was sitting at one end of the couch, his feet on the coffee table, while she had her head on the opposite armrest and her feet in his lap, stretched out completely across the couch. He looked at her, arcing his eyebrows. She scowled. "Fine, I'll move."

----------

"Buffy? I'm home." Dawn shut the door behind her and glanced up the stairs. "Buffy?" she walked into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks. The TV was going, but no one was watching it. Buffy was curled up alongside Spike, both of them sound asleep on one end of the couch. Dawn clenched her jaw and shook her head. "Yeah, just great…" she muttered under her breath before heading up to her room. She slammed the door loudly.

"Mmm, Dawnie?" Buffy's eyes fluttered open and she looked around, not seeing her sister. She turned to Spike and smiled. He was sleeping. As quietly as she could, she shifted and went to climb off the couch. She halted when the vampire began to stir, not wanting to wake him. She stayed like that for a moment, half off the couch, waiting to see if he had woken up. When he didn't move, she tried again. He stirred. Sighing, she laid back down.

"You can get up you know."

Buffy rolled her eyes and sat up, looking down at him. "You're awake?"

"Wasn't til about thirty seconds ago."

She shrugged. "Sorry."

"No worries, luv. What time is it, anyway?"

"Quarter til ten." She replied, standing from the couch and stretching her arms. "That means what, we got about five and a half hours of sleep?"

"More than I've gotten in the past week."

"So you're feeling better?"

"'course I am, I'm here with you, aren't I?" He said, grinning.

She gave him a small smile. "I have to go get in the shower. We're all supposed to meet Giles at the airport at eleven thirty." She paused for a minute, thinking. "Are you gonna come?"

"Probably not the best idea, luv. Giles isn't exactly fond of me and I could do without hearing Whelp's smart ass remarks. Plus the airports full of lotsa big windows."

Buffy snorted and shook her head. "Xander needs to get his head out of his ass…"

He gave her a surprised look. "You're _insulting _your friends for me now?"

"It's not an insult when it's true."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I love you."

She gave him a genuine smile. "I know." 

----------

"Dawn? You ready to go? We're gonna be late." Buffy pushed the door of her sister's room open. Dawn was sitting on her bed, flipping through a magazine. "Hey, you ready? Xander's gonna be here in a few minutes."

Dawn looked up, her face expressionless. "I'm not going."

"What? Of course you are, Giles' plane's leaving in an hour."

"I don't want to go." She said flatly, returning her eyes to the magazine.

"Dawn, you're going, now come on." Buffy ordered, tossing her sister her coat. Dawn shoved it behind her and scowled.

"I'm. Not. Going."

"Dawn, don't do this, we're going to be late."

"I don't want to go, Buffy. You can't make me." Dawn whined. Buffy lowered her head and stared at her. "Okay, so you **could** make me. But I'm still not going."

Buffy groaned as Xander honked his horn outside, obviously not coming in for fear of bumping into Spike. "Dawn, now."

"No."

Buffy glared at her sister for a moment. "You know what? Fine, stay here with Spike." She shook her head and stormed out the door.

"S'matter pet?" Spike asked from the couch as Buffy marched angrily down the stairs.

"Dawn's being….Dawn. God! Spike, will you keep an eye on her? She's not going." Buffy rambled angrily.

"Sure thing pet."

She grabbed her coat and gave him a small smile. "Thanks. See you later."

Spike watched as she hurried out the door. Sighing, he stood and began to walk upstairs. "Nibblet?" He called, knocking lightly on the teen's door, despite the fact that it was open. Dawn looked up at him from her bed. "Can I come in?"

"Last I checked vampire's didn't need invitations to come into someone's room." She said flatly.

Spike smirked. "Well, then do you care if I come in?"

"Whatever." She muttered, returning her attention to her magazine.

Spike sighed and walked in, taking a seat on the bed next to the girl. "You still mad at me?"

"What do you think?" she spat.

"That you hate me." He answered simply.

Dawn blinked. "I don't _hate_ you, I'm just ….mad, I guess."

"'cause I left?"

"Because you promised you wouldn't." she replied.

"Ah, so you're mad 'cause I broke my promise."

"And you didn't say goodbye."

"Okay, so leaving and not saying goodbye, right?" he asked, trying to make sure he got this straight.

"Yeah…"

"I didn't leave you, Dawn, I left Sunnydale."

"Why didn't you say goodbye? I mean, you could have called or something, you know, written. Anything. You just disappeared."

"Sometimes it's good to disappear for a bit."

"Not when you're already invisible everyone around you…" she grumbled, her eyes remaining locked on the floor.

He stared at her a few moments, his head tilted a bit. "I see you." She looked up at him, caught off guard a bit. "You'll always be my Lil Bit, you got that? And from here on out, no more disappearing, alright? I promi…"

"Don't." she interrupted. "Don't promise if you can't keep your word."

He smirked. "I promise."

"Really?" She asked, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Scout's honor." He said, raising his hand. "Cross my heart and hope to….erm, live, I guess…"

She grinned. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, Bit." He said warmly. He was thrown off guard as the girl wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He smirked and returned the hug. "'m'glad you're not mad at me anymore."

"Me too."

He continued to smirk as he pulled away from her, bringing his eyes to meet hers. "Now, about that whole 'goodbye' issue…"

----------

"We do this way too much…" Xander said jokingly as he hugged Giles. 

The Watcher grinned, "Yes, I suppose we do." He went to say something else, but was startled as Anya hugged him tightly from the side.

"I miss you and you're not even gone yet." The blonde said, not letting go.

"I'm touched." He said playfully, hugging her back. When she finally let go, he turned to face Willow. "You alright?" The redhead nodded. He smiled warmly and enveloped her in his arms. "I'll miss you…"

"I'll miss you too."

He gave the girl one last smile before turning to face his Slayer. She looked on the verge of tears. He smiled and held his arms open.

"Goodbye.." she said softly, returning his hug.

"Be strong, alright? You'll be fine without me." He assured her.

"Yeah, I know…" she said quietly, pulling away and smiling.

"Tell Dawn I said goodbye, alright?" he asked, a bit shaken that the girl hadn't shown.

"Why don't you tell her yourself." The group turned to find Spike standing at the end of the corridor, staying in the shadows to avoid the sunlight from the looming windows. He was leaning against the wall, smirking. Dawn walked out from behind him and over to Giles.

"I'm sorry." She said softly.

"For what?" he asked, studying the girl.

"Not saying goodbye." She replied quietly. Giles smiled fondly at her before pulling her into a hug.

"I'm glad you were here." He uttered.

"I'll miss you."

"And I'll miss you. All of you." He said, looking at the familiar faces around him one last time before turning and heading towards the plane entrance. The scoobies all lined up along the window to watch the plane take off, all except for Buffy. She walked over to Spike, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you…"

TBC…


	5. Pancakes

"Never thought I'd see the day when you kicked demon ass." Spike said fondly to Dawn, watching her as they walked back towards her house.

"It's the Hellmouth, whatever's least likely to happen always will." She replied, smiling at him. They had gone patrolling together, leaving Buffy and Willow at home. The ex-witch was staying the night at their house, seeing as Xander was still fuming over the fact that Spike was back.

"True. I mean, who would of thought I'd turn into a wanker like Peaches?" He asked playfully.

"Nah, Angel's all not cool and broody twenty-four-seven. You're still Spike." She smiled up at him. "You're still my best friend."

He smirked as they walked up the drive to her house. "God I missed you."

"I missed you too, Spike." She told him, pushing the door open and walking inside. She craned her head around the corner to find Buffy and Willow sitting at the table in the kitchen, munching on some chips. "Hey."

"Hey, Dawn." Buffy said, relieved that the girl was home. Dawn had never gone patrolling without Buffy and it had her a bit nervous, even though she knew her sister would be safe with Spike. Dawn walked into the room, taking a seat next to her sister and snatching a handful of chips. Buffy looked up at Spike, who was leaning against the doorframe. "You can sit down, you know." She told him playfully.

Spike smirked and walked in, pulling up the chair beside Willow. "So what'd you girls do all night?"

Buffy shrugged. "Talked."

Spike's eyes fell on Willow, who looked a bit more happy yet distressed at the same time, if it was possible. "You okay, pet?" he asked, his head cocked to the side.

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

She chuckled. "No. But there's not much I can do about that, is there?"

"Time. It all takes time."

"Yeah, I know…" she muttered, dropping her eyes to the floor. She sighed and looked up at the trio around her, giving them a halfhearted smile. "I'm gonna go to bed, g'night."

"'night." Buffy and Dawn muttered in unison, watching as Willow slinked out of the room.

Spike shrugged. "She's doin' good." This earned him surprised looks from both Buffy and Dawn.

"Spike, she's not doing _good_. She barely talks and she doesn't do much of anything anymore." Buffy protested.

"But she's here, isn't she? That's the hardest part of what she's going through, seeing the faces of everyone she's hurt. It's eating her up on the inside, but she's toughing it out. Doing a bloody good job, too, if you ask me."

"You think so?" Dawn asked, looking up at him hopefully.

"It's a lot harder than it looks." His blue eyes shifted over to Buffy. "Everything's a lot harder."

Buffy gave him a small smile, knowing he was talking more-so about himself than Willow. "It's late, why don't we all go get some sleep." She suggested. Dawn answered her question with a yawn.

"I'm not tired."

"Funny, now get upstairs." Buffy ordered playfully as she stood. Dawn smiled as she walked out of the room and headed upstairs. Buffy's playful smile faded and she looked down at Spike. "You okay?"

"Hangin' in there." He answered, a small smirk playing on his features.

"Spike, really, how are you?" She asked, sitting back down next to him. 

He sighed and dropped the smart-ass expression. "It hurts. Hurts like a bitch…" His eyes fell, but shot back up just as quickly when he felt Buffy take his hand in her own.

"I'm here if you every need anything, alright?"

"Thank you." he muttered, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. He had never thought Buffy would be there for him, not like this. "Thank you…" he said once more, hugging the small girl in front of him tightly.

She smiled warmly at him as she pulled away. "Just returning the favor."

He gave her a wry smile as they stood, walking out of the kitchen. "Come on, Slayer, off t'bed with you." He ordered, gently pushing he towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" she asked, watching as he walked into the living room.

"Couch. Red has the extra bed, remember?"

She followed him out there and stared at the couch for a moment. Looking back up at him, she gave him a small smile and took his hand once more. "Come on."

----------

Spike's eyes lolled open slowly and he yawned. Rolling over, he stared adoringly at the small blonde curled up on the bed next to him. She looked so cute curled up in her pj's like that. He smiled and absently ran his finger over her soft blonde hair, his eyes watering up. He didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve **her**. She squirmed slightly at his touch.

"Spike? You okay?" she asked sleepily, not opening her eyes.

"Yeah, pet, I'm fine. Now go back to sleep, it's still early." He said gently, brushing his thumb against her cheek. He looked over at the clock. Eight-thirty. Surprise, surprise. One full night of sleep without any nightmares…

"You sure?" she asked, already almost back to sleep. 

"Positive. Now get back to sleep." He smiled when she made a small whimpering noise before drifting back into her slumber. "I love you…" he whispered softly, giving her one last loving glance before standing. He walked out of Buffy's room and over to where Willow was. He poked his head in. Willow wasn't there. He shrugged, she must be up already. He walked in and over to the small stack of boxes in the corner. He and Buffy had dug his things out of the basement the day before. Digging through one, he pulled out some clean clothes and headed back down the hallway to take a shower.

----------

"'ey Red." Spike greeted the girl, who was seated at the island in the Summers' kitchen, sipping on a glass of orange juice and absently rolling an apple around on the table with her hand.

"Morning Spike." She said softly, giving the blonde vampire a small smile. He was wearing a loose pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt. He had a dark red button up shirt over it, the buttons serving no purpose seeing as he hadn't bother to button them. His hair was mussed, wet and scattered all over his head. 

He cocked his head to the side, examining her. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah…" she looked up to find him smirking at her and couldn't help but smile back. "No." she shook her head and her eyes fell to the floor.

He stood there for a moment, watching her think. "That's why it hurts so much."

"What?" she asked, confused as she looked back up at him.

He sat down in the chair across from her, draping his arm across the tabletop. "You're dwelling on everything, that's why it hurts so much. Try not to think about it so much."

"I can't do that…" she muttered, tossing her apple back into the small basket along with the other fruit and shaking her head sadly.

"'course you can." He said, standing and grabbing her apple back out of the basket, along with two oranges.

"Spike, what are you doing?" she asked, trying to hold back a giggle as he began to juggle the fruit in front of her.

He smirked and continued to toss the fruit in the air. "See? It's not the end of the world if you smile." He tossed the apple back to her and caught the other two oranges in his hands. She caught the apple and grinned. "Don't think about it so much, trust me, it works. Do something else." He instructed, tossing the fruit back into the basket.

"Like what?" she asked, setting the apple back in as well.

He looked around the kitchen, thinking. He turned back to her and smirked. "You hungry?" 

----------

"Mornin' sunshine." Spike greeted as Buffy walked into the kitchen, Dawn walking behind her. Both girls looked around the kitchen before returning their eyes to Spike, who was pushing something around in a pan on the stove. Willow was beside him, doing her best to flip a lopsided pancake.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked, giving him a strange look.

"Cookin'." He answered simply as he tossed a few slices of cheese over the scrambled eggs he was making.

"I see that." Buffy said, surveying the wide range of dirty dishes and ingredients scattered everywhere. She and Dawn both walked over to the table and sat down, both with confused expressions on their faces. "Why?"

"Why not, right Red?" He answered, looking at the redhead next to him. She grinned and tossed the pancake onto plate next to her, topping of a rather large pile of the odd shaped things.

"Right." She answered with a nod as she picked up the stack of pancakes and carried them over to the table.

"You look happy." Dawn observed, watching her with curiousity. Buffy looked over at Spike, her expression questioning him. He smiled and winked at her.

"Yup. And you know what? It's okay, I mean, it's what Tara would have wanted, right?" Willow answered, setting the pancakes down. "Tara liked pancakes…" she muttered, her face falling slightly, but she caught herself and smiled once more. "And that's good, 'cause pancakes are good, a-and they deserve to be liked. I mean, with all the syrup and the fluffiness and…"

"We get the idea, Red." Spike said, smirking as he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her rambling. He shook his head at the girl and set the large plate of cheesy eggs he had made down alongside her pancakes.

"Oo, there's bacon too!" Willow exclaimed, hurrying back over to the stove. Spike shook his head and sat down next to Buffy.

"Spike, what did you do to her?" She asked quietly, trying not to laugh.

"Talked to 'er. Seems like Nibblet here ain't the only scoobie who will take advise from me." He answered with a grin, snatching a piece of bacon from the plate as Willow set it down. He munched on it and grinned. "Now eat up, we didn't make all this for the Hell of it, 'ey Red?"

She nodded and smiled.

TBC…

*****

A/N: Sorry bout the short chapter, but I have to get to work. I won't have access to a computer for a few days, so expect a new chapter sometime between Tuesday and Thursday! Thanks for reading and please review, I really appreciate any ideas or suggestions anyone has, so don't hesitate to e-mail me! 


	6. Poisoned....eggs?

"Hey Xander." Willow greeted her friend with a smile as he walked through the door of the magic shop. She smiled from behind the counter where she was dusting off shelves.

"Willow?" he asked, taken aback by her sudden chipperness. "Willow, wow, you look…great. What happened?"

"Talking. A-and not thinking, about stuff, you know? Oh look! I brought you breakfast." She grinned and offered him the plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. It seemed her and Spike had gone a bit overboard with the food. "I found out cooking's a good way to take your mind off of things." She added with a nod.

He grinned and took the plate from her. "I'm glad you're feeling better. Plus, Cooky-Willow is a good thing, I'm starving."

"So, how is it?" she asked tentatively as he took a bite.

"Mmm, great Will." He said, swallowing down a mouthful of the eggs. "So you did all of this yourself?"

"No." she answered simply, going back to dusting.

"Buffy help you?" he asked, taking another bite.

"No."

"…Dawn?"

"Uh-uh." She answered. Xander stopped chewing and stared at her. She sighed and back stared at him, a sly smirk on her face.

"Willow…." He stated, his mouth still full.

"…Spike."

He spit the food on the counter. "Willow! Ugh, that's disgusting!" He blew a raspberry with his tongue, trying to get the remaining bits of food out of his mouth. "God, that's worse than when I thought I ate that people-burger. Dammit, Wills! He probably poisoned it and now…"

"What's wrong?" Buffy and Spike came rushing out from the back room, hearing the commotion. Anya poked her head over the edge of the loft and looked down, her eyebrows raised at the noise her ex-fiance was making. Willow was standing behind the counter, her hand over her mouth to try and keep form laughing.

"She fed me evil breakfast!" Xander shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Willow. Everyone stared at him for a moment, silent.

Willow cracked up. "My God Xander, they were eggs! I ate them too, they're not poisoned." Buffy put her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling and Spike just smirked.

"Really Harris, if I wanted to kill you it'd be a nice, slow, painful death. Not eggs."

Buffy continued to grin as she pulled on the sleeve of his coat. "Stoppit." She scolded him lightly, still laughing a bit. "Xander, Spike's right, why would he try to kill you with eggs?"

"Cause he's a demon!" Xander argued.

"Um, hello, Vengence Demon up here." Anya said, waving at Xander.

"Anya, I didn't mean…"

"I know what you meant, Xander, and for your information all demons aren't evil."

"He is." Xander shot stubbornly.

"No, he's not." Buffy said sternly, glaring at her friend.

"Xander, Buffy's right, Spike's not…" Willow began.

"Now you're defending him too?" Xander asked, shocked. "Willow, demons…" He stopped himself from using the vague d-word. "..vampires, vampires kill people." 

"Not all of them, Xander." Willow chided, looking at him crossly. "People kill people too. Look at Warren…look at me…" An uneasy silence fell over the group as Willow dropped her eyes to the ground. 

"Willow, I didn't…" he went to touch her shoulder, but she pulled away from him. He stared at her for a moment, not sure what else to say.

Spike glared at Xander before walking from behind Buffy and over to the ex-witch, who now had tears running down her face. 

"Don't touch her!" Xander made a move to hit Spike, but Buffy grabbed his arm, preventing him from swinging.

Spike sneered at the boy before turning his gaze back to Willow. "Red?" He asked softly. She looked up at him, tears flooding her eyes.

"I've killed more people in the past year than you have…" She mumbled.

Spike gave her a sympathetic smile before hugging her. "Don't fret about it, luv, the wanker had it comin' to 'im. If you hadn't done it I would have anyway, chip or no chip. You only gave him what he deserved."

"I didn't mean to…" she whispered into his chest, crying a bit harder now.

"I know, pet. We all know." He said gently, rubbing his hand in small circles on her back. Xander scowled and went to say something, but Buffy silenced him with a menacing glare.

"No." she said simply, grabbing him by the arm. "Come on."

Spike watched as Buffy dragged the boy towards the door. Swinging it open, she ushered him roughly out onto the sidewalk. The vampire gave her a small smile before she disappeared out into the sunlit streets after him.

"Xander, this has to stop. Now." She said sternly, glaring at him.

"What? The hatred of vampires? That's pretty ironic coming from a Slayer, or have you forgotten that that's what you are?" 

"I never said I didn't hate vampires." She said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Gee, Buffy, you sure don't act like it. I mean, you know, with the whole 'Let's defend Spike' routine." He shot back sarcastically.

"I hate vampires, Xander." She said flatly. "I may hate what Spike is, but I don't hate **him**."

"He's still a vampire, Buffy. He can hurt you." Xander argued.

"And Anya's a Vengence Demon. You know, those things that torture men?"

"Anya can't hurt me…" He retorted.

"And Spike **won't** hurt me." She snapped. "Anya may not be **able** to hurt you, but Spike **refuses** to hurt me. He loves me, Xander, why can't you see that?"

"Yeah Buff. And what happened with the last vampire you fell for, huh? 'Oops, lost my soul. I guess I should kill you and torture all your friends now.'"

"Xander, are you blind?! He could have killed you a long time ago!"

"He was chipped, Buffy. He doesn't have that leash anymore…"

"Xander, how easily could he have lit your apartment on fire? How easily could he have… poisoned your eggs? He **could** have killed you, but he didn't. He **chose** not to. He doesn't need a leash, what he needs is acceptance and from where I'm standing, you're the only one refusing to give that to him. You're driving yourself into a hole, Xander. God, Willow trusts him more than she trusts you right now."

"He doesn't deserve acceptance, not after the things he's done." Xander mumbled.

"What about Anya? What about Willow? They've both taken human lives, why is it okay for them?" Xander stood there, staring at his feet, not sure what to say. "Xander, I love you, you know that, right?" Buffy asked quietly.

"Yeah…"

"Then please, trust me. I don't want to keep fighting with you. Please…" She cupped on of his hands in both of hers and watched him with pleading eyes.

He sighed and swallowed down the lump in his throat. "Do you love him?"

"What?" Buffy asked quietly, not sure where the question had come from.

"Spike. Do you love him?" Xander asked again, his voice soft. Buffy just stared at him with wide eyes, not answering. He clenched his eyes shut and pulled his hand gently from her grip, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. 

"Don't be." He said flatly as he turned and began to walk away. Buffy stood there, watching her friend walk off. She wiped a stray tear from her face as his words repeated in her mind.

_Do you love him?_

TBC…

*****

A/N: Yay! I managed to get another chapter done 'fore I had to leave for work! It's pretty short tho… Oh well, thanks for reading and please keep the reviews coming!


	7. Say it now

All eyes shot up as the bell above the door rang. Buffy walked in sullenly and gave the shop's occupants a small smile. Willow and Spike were seated at the table and Anya was coming out of the back room of the shop with a cup of tea for the ex-witch. Buffy watched as Anya tried to coax the girl into taking the beverage, but Willow just shook her head. She had stopped crying, yes, but she still looked as if someone had just drop-kicked her puppy.

"Xander left…" Buffy mumbled quietly, dropping her eyes to the ground. She felt absolutely horrible for turning on her friend like that, but Xander shouldn't….no, he **couldn't** talk to Spike like that.

"Buffy, luv, you didn't have to do that." Spike said from his seat beside Willow.

"Yes, I did… and I wanted to." The slayer groaned and shook her head, taking a seat across from him. "Xander's just…"

"Xander." Anya chimed when Buffy couldn't find a word to describe the boy. "Xander's just… Xander." She shrugged.

"Yeah, we get that." The Slayer muttered. Spike kept his eyes on her as she absently rolled a pencil around on the table.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" Her eyes shot up tp ,meat his questioning gaze and she smiled slightly at the concern hinted in his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." She turned her focus to Willow. "How 'bout you? You alright?" Willow merely shrugged. Buffy gave her a weak smile and stood. "Come on, why don't we head back to my place." She laid her hand lightly on her friend's shoulder as she stood. "Spike, you coming?" Buffy asked, unsure whether they should take to the sunny sidewalks or travel by sewer.

"You two go ahead, I'll meet you there. No sense in all of us trudgin' through the sewers."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Now get goin' 'fore I decide I wanna go for a walk in the sun too." He replied with a smirk.

"Fine. I'll see you later." Buffy said, shaking her head and smiling. How come he could always look past how horrible things were and go on smiling like that? "Come on, Will."

Spike watched as the two girls disappeared out the door. His eyes remained focused there for a few moments, even after they had gone.

"You're not going straight home, are you?"

"What?" he asked, spinning around to face the vengeance demon.

"You're not going home yet." This time she said it as more of a statement than a question.

"Nope, guess not." He said, grabbing his jacket from the back of one of the chairs and heading over to the basement door. He turned the knob and spun to face the girl once more before descending the stairs. "And do me a favor. Don't say anything 'bout this, 'right?" Anya nodded and Spike smirked. "Thanks pet."

----------

Xander pounded up the stairs to his apartment, not acknowledging the heavy clomping sound he was making. He was too busy replaying the conversation he and Buffy had had over and over in his head. He plunged his key forcefully into the lock on his door and swung it open. His eyes scanned the apartment as he continued to replay what had been said. 

Buffy was sorry. Sorry for what? Yelling at him? Siding with a vampire? Trusting Spike? Sorry that Willow wouldn't even look at him? She could have been sorry for any number of things, it's not like she came out and said exactly _what _was sorry for. But he knew. She was sorry for hurting him in the worst possible way she could. She was sorry for loving the vampire he loathed with all his being. Sure, she could deny it all she wanted, but it was right there in front of his face: Buffy loved Spike, whether she thought so or not.

And he didn't want her to be sorry. No, she didn't need to be. **He** was sorry enough for the both of them. Sorry that Buffy had let herself fall for the vampires game. Sorry that she was oblivious to what he really was. Sorry that his friends were turning on him because of the man, no, the **thing** she loved. Yeah, he was sorry alright, sorry for trying to point out how stupid she was without flat-out telling her to her face. 

He shut the door and walked towards the window, staring absently at the street below.

_'Buffy, you're an idiot.' _What he wouldn't give to say those words to her, to put it so simply what was wrong with her, but he wouldn't. He loved her too much to be that harsh. She was smart and he hoped she would figure it out sooner or later. She would see soon enough how blind she really was.

His head shot up as someone knocked on his door. He groaned in annoyance and marched towards it, not in the mood to deal with whoever was bothering him right now. He swung it open and immediately rephrased the thought. **Whatever** was bothering him.

"You." He spat, glaring at the blonde vampire standing outside his door.

Spike stared at him in utter annoyance. "Look, before you go getting' all…" Xander punched him in the jaw before he could finish. His head jerked to the side, but he didn't waver. "Right, so much for pleasantries, eh?" He said, smirking as he wiped at the trickle of blood now flowing from his lip.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" The boy ground out, glaring venomously at the vampire.

Spike straightened and his smirk was replaced by a serious glare. "Look, Whelp, I didn't like you 'fore I got this bloody soul and I don't like you now." He said in all seriousness. "But this shit has to stop. Now."

"Why? Can't take the verbal abuse? Can't stand to have someone around who isn't afraid to remind you of what you are, to remind you your place? You're a vampire, a worthless, evi...."

"I can take your words easy, Harris." Spike growled, taking a step closer to the door. "You're not hurtin' me none. You're hurtin' them. You're hurtin' yourself. You're hurtin' everyone but me, you ponce. Buffy an' you can't  have a conversation without shoutin', Willow won't look at you, Anya thinks you hate her 'cause she's a demon, and Dawn thinks you're the Big Bad Wolf come to take me away from her again. And me? Hell, I find it funny that your hurtin' yourself so much at my expense."

"Listen to me, you sorry…" Xander began, taking a step towards the blonde. He made the mistake of stepping over the threshold of his door and Spike grabbed him roughly by the collar of his shirt.

"No. You listen to me." He growled, slamming the boy into the wall. "I couldn't give a fuck less 'bout the shit you're saying, but you're hurting **them**. If you wanna take your shots, Harris, take them now. Say whatever the Hell you want to while they're not here because next time you say something to hurt them…"

"You'll what, kill me?" Xander questioned hatefully, pulling Spike's hands off of him. Spike reluctantly released him, but didn't back down.

"No. I wouldn't do that, **only** because it would hurt them. But trust me, there's nothing I would more like to do than rip your head from your shoulders. No, next time you say something I just want you to look at them, **look** at what you're doing. You'll destroy them and yourself long before I go down. So if you still _really _feel you need to run your mouth, do it now, I'm right here and Buffy's not around to stop you."

Xander continued to glare, but for once didn't speak. Clenching his jaw, he pulled one more punch at the vampire. Much to his surprise, Spike reeled to the side, nailing his head on a case holding a fire extinguisher. He looked down at his fist, surprise at the force he had just used. That's when it hit him. Pain shot through his hand and up his arm. "Dammit." He complained, shaking the already bruising limb.

Spike stood easily and gave him an unamused look, a rather large gash present above his eye. "That's it? 'Dammit'? I walk halfway across the bloody town, in the middle of the day, mind you, and all you can say is 'dammit'? Bugger, whelp, I really do hate you, you know that?"

 "Get out." Xander growled.

Spike cocked his head to the side and clucked his tongue. "Fine." He said simply before turning and walking back down the stairs. Go figure, he gives the sap a chance to get all his smart-ass remarks out and all he can come up with is 'dammit'. Just his bloody luck.

----------

Buffy shot up from the couch as the door opened. Spike walked in, tucked safely underneath his smoking blanket. "Spike, where were you?" She questioned, walking over and shutting the door behind him.

He pulled the blanket from over his head, revealing his bloody lip. The gash above his eye had bled a bit too, leaving a thin trail of the liquid running over his brow. "Sorry, luv, got a bit tied up." He said with a smirk.

"God, Spike, what happened?" Buffy asked, brushing her finger across the cut above his eye. He flinched. "Sorry. Here, go sit down and I'll get a first aid kit." She said, gently pushing him into the kitchen. He sat down and she returned a few minutes later with said first aid kit. "What happened?" she asked as she began to wipe some of the stick red goo from his face.

"Erm…vampires." He lied.

"Vampires?" She asked, giving him a skeptical look.

"Yeah, in the sewer. Big bloke, he was. Dumb as an ox though."

"Seems Mr. Dumb-As-A-Box-Of-Rocks got the best of you." She said with a smirk as she taped a piece of guaze to his forehead.

"Ow." He whined.

"Sorry."

"No worries. **And** for your information, missy, I think **I** got the best of him. Left the bloke bloody speechless." He said with a grin.

"So he's a big dusty now?" She asked, putting the gauze back in the case.

"Yeah, I guess you could say he won't be buggin' us too much anymore."

TBC…

*****

Wee, short chapterness! Oh well, I'll have a new one up Thursday, till then, thanks for reading and please keep reviewing! J


	8. Twizzlers

A/N: Meh, last few chapters have been kinda mean and dark. So…. Here's some fluff! Odd, really, I'm in a really bad mood right now and I'm righting happy stuff…pfft. Oh well, please keep reviewing, I luv you all!!

----------

Spike was laying sprawled out on Buffy's bed, his eyes focused on a picture of her and Dawn on the desk across the room from him. Buffy had gone to the school to pick the girl up and Willow had all but baracaded herself in the spare room, more than likey blubbering like a baby. Him? He was dead tired, excuse the pun. It was a feeling he had grown accustomed too, though, seeing as he had come to dread sleep as much as he dreaded sunlight.

"Bullocks.." He muttered, focusing on his own voice to keep awake. If he was awake he could easily ward off those pesky memories, but that task was greatly amplified when he was asleep. He groaned as he fought to keep his eyelids open and a yawn escaped his throat. "Bloody hell…" He muttered, running his hands over his face. He was given a painful reminder of the wound on his head as he roughly ran his hand over it. "Ah, hell!!" He grimaced and sat up, his eyes searching around the room. They darted to the hallway when he heard the front door open downstairs.

"Just try and keep out of her way, okay? It's been a long day." Buffy chided her sister as she pulled her key from the door.

"Why, what happened?" Dawn asked curiously, wondering why the redhead was staying with them once again. "Is she okay?"

Buffy opened her mouth, ready to tell Dawn that she didn't need to worry about it, but decided against the secretive way of putting things. "Xander said some things, that's all."

"About Spike?" Dawn asked seriously, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, about Spike…" Buffy answered honestly, staring past her sister at the vampire standing at the top of the stairs. Her eyes were sympathetic, but she managed to give him a small smile before turning back to Dawn. "You have any homework?"

"Math." She shrugged.

"Go get it done."

"What for? I have all night."  Dawn began to argue.

"Cause we're not going to be here tonight. We're gonna go do something." She turned her gaze back to Spike once more as the vampire made his way down the steps. "All of us."

----------

"Willow?" Dawn knocked lightly on the door to the girl's room, almost afraid to go in. She hated seeing Willow all depressed and mopey, it scared her. She gave the redhead a small smile as she pushed the door open. "Hey, me, Spike, and Buffy are goin' to see a movie. Wanna come with?"

"No thanks, Dawnie…' Willow mumbled absently, barely acknowledging the girl.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's about these kids and they…"

"Nah, you go have fun…" Willow muttered, giving Dawn a small smile. "I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Dawn asked, a hopeful ring in her voice. Willow nodded. "Okay…" Dawn shrugged. "I guess I'll see you later…" She backed out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

"She coming?" Buffy asked as the teen descended the stairs. Spike stood beside her, shrugging into his coat.

"Nah. She's back to step one. You know, 'Hide-and-cry'." The teen explained.

"She's that bad, huh?" Buffy asked, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah…" Dawn uttered, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Dammit, Xander…" Buffy grumbled under her breath. Spike smirked at her choice of words. _'Dammit'_

"Suss up, she can't keep herself cooped up forever." He said, smirking. Both girls turned to look at him with unamused expressions. "What?"

"Maybe not forever, but she kept it up for three months last time." Buffy said flatly.

"An' what the hell do you think I was doing in Africa, vacationing?" He asked with a smirk.

"You were doing the hide-and-cry thing too?" Dawn asked sympathetically.

"I was **not** crying." He protested, trying to save what remained of his dignity. Dawn was probably the only one out of the lot of them who still thought he was bad ass. Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at him. "…Okay, so maybe I cried. A little bit." He glared at her and shuffled his feet. "And I wasn't hidin'."

"So what were you doing then, vacationing?" Dawn asked, grinning.

"Are you goin' t'make me hurt you?" Spike asked playfully, giving Dawn a warning smirk.

"Ah, but you forget, I can kick your ass now." She replied just as cockily.

"Dawn. Language." Buffy scolded. She shook her head and pushed the girl towards the door. She smirked evily. "Besides, you could have kicked his ass before."

----------

"'ey Nibblet, give me those red things." Spike said rather loudly, reaching his hand across Buffy's lap and over to Dawn. He was reclining in the uncomfortable theater seat, his feet propped up on the seat in front of him.

"Spike, shh. You're being loud." Buffy chided, giving him a stern look.

"Sorry princess." He said, giving her his best I'm-a-five-year-old-who-just-dropped-my-cookie-in-the-mud-puppy-eyes. "Now, make with the candy, Bit." Spike whispered. Loudly.

"The Twizzlers?"

"Yeah, them things."

"You ate 'em all already."

"…Oh, I did, din't I?"

Dawn nodded. "Oo, look. I still have the one I was drinking my pop with if you want it." She grinned and pulled the red piece of candy from her drink, holding it up.

"Um…" Spike made a face. He could tell even in the dark from two seats away that the thing was gooey and unedible. "Nah, you keep it, I'll go get another bag. You chits want anything?"

"More popcorn." Dawn said without even thinking about it. Buffy and Spike both stared at her and the empty tub in front of her. The empty **monster** size tub.

"Right…" Spike muttered, shaking his head slightly. "What 'bout you pet?" He asked, cocking his head to the side and looking at Buffy.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Suit youself." He said, shrugging as he stood. "Be back in a bit."

----------

"Can I help you?" The red haired, freckle faced boy at the counter asked a bit too cheerily. 

Spike gave him a strange look. "Yeah, thing of Twizzlers and a large popcorn."

"Would you like butter on that?" He asked, same dopey grin in place.

"Lots." Spike said, reaching into his pocket for some money.

"Anything else?" The boy questioned, setting the bucket of corn down on the counter. Spike looked down at the Twizzlers in his hand for a moment.

"Yeah, better give me two of these." He said, motioning to the candy.

The kid nodded and grabbed another bag of the candy. "That'll be $12.25"

"For two bags of candy and a bucket of overcook vegetables?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Spike snorted and shook his head, tossing the money on the counter. Grabbing his candy and shoving it in his pocket, he made his way back into the theater.

----------

"You haven't been to the movies in awhile, have you?" Buffy asked, grinning at the vampire as they exited the theater.

"What makes you say that?" He asked, not looking up as he opened his third bag of Twizzlers.

"Well, you were loud, you yelled at the screen, you thought the fact that they sold hot dogs was hilarious, and…"

"..the big giveaway." Dawn added.

"You were actually surprised that they charged eight bucks a ticket." Buffy finished.

"And three dollars for these silly things." He said, pulling another piece of licorice from the bag.

"Spike, you've eaten three bags of 'em." Dawn said, trying to keep from laughing.

"And I got another one on my pocket, what's it to you? Cost me twelve bloody dollars." He said indignantly.

"You didn't like the movie, did you?" Buffy asked, smirking.

"Not at all." He answered, grinning as he munched on his candy. 

"What's with the Twizzlers anyway?" Dawn asked, eyeing the half empty bag he held.

He shrugged. "They're nifty little things, have a weird taste to 'em too. Plus, I thought it might be kinda fun to try that thing you do with 'em with my blood."

"Huh?" Dawn asked, giving him a strange look.

"You know, how you were drinkin' your pop with 'em?"

Buffy and Dawn both looked thoroughly disgusted. "Thank you, Spike. I'll never touch another Twizzler again." Buffy grumbled.

"More for me." 

----------

Willow's eyes floated drearily to the door when the sound of laughter erupted downstairs. Buffy was home. She cold here Dawn giggling at Spike for some reason or another, and Buffy scolding them both to quiet down so they wouldn't wake her up.

"Sorry pet." Spike said sincerely, even though he was still grinning.

"Yeah, sorry Buff." Dawn added.

"It's alright." She grinned and locked eyes with Spike. "I forgive you." Dawn shrugged and headed off into the kitchen, intent on getting a drink before heading off to bed. Spike smiled slightly, looking down a bit. "I mean it." Buffy said simply, taking a step towards him. "I forgive you."

"Buffy, you don't have to…" He began.

"Spike, for once just shutup and take what's being handed to you." She said playfully, taking his hands in hers. "I forgive you, for everything….and I'm sorry." He gave her a questioning look, not fully understanding. "You know, for all those things I said. For all those, well, for beating the shit out of you."

He smirked and shook his head. "I never blamed you for those things, luv, not once. They're just minor drawbacks in the whole Loving-Buffy scheme." He said gently, running his hand down the side of her face.

"I'll never get you. I mean, is nothing I can do wrong to you? Is there anything that'll make you hate me, make you see that I'm not perfect?" she asked, her face just as confused as his had been moments before. 

"Nope." He answered simply.

"But I…"

He grinned and placed his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes. "'sides, it's all those little imperfections that make you Buffy, and as far as I'm concerned, Buffy's perfect…" She gave him a small smile, running her hand over the back of his neck. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

"Spike," she began, her eyes still closed. She opened them slowly and brought them to his. "Spike, I…"

The phone rang.

She smiled coyly. "_I_ have to get the phone." She smirked and gave the back of his neck a small squeeze before turning and walking into the kitchen. "Hello?" She asked, wrapping the phone cord around her fingers as she listened. 

She walked back into the livingroom a few minutes later to find Spike standing exactly where she left him, staring absently at the ground. "Hey, Brood Boy Jr., you okay?" She asked, grabbing her coat from the couch and sliding into it.

He looked up and smiled. "M'fine pet, just thinkin', that's all." He watched as she slipped into her jacket. "Where you off to?"

"Huh?" She looked at him for a moment, unsure whether he wanted to hear the answer. He stared right back, his eyes pleading for the answer. She sighed, finally giving in. "To the Bronze. Xand…Xander wants to talk…" she finished quietly. 

"Oh.." 

She smirked slightly at the pained look that crossed his face. Marching up to him, she took his face between her palms, smiling slyly. "Don't worry about him brainwashing me, Spike. I'm stubborn, remember?"

He smirked. "How could I forget?"

TBC…

----------

A/N: Okay, not toooo fluffy, but not deathly sad either. So, now I have a question: Should I go more into a plot, you know, with a Big Badie and such, or just keep centering around how the characters are reacting? I dun know and I'd be glad to have your opinion, please keep the reviews coming, they help a ton J


	9. Ewww

Spike stood there for awhile, staring at nothing in particular. His eyes were locked on the coffee table in the middle of the room, but he wasn't really acknowledging the thing. No, his mind was racing far too much for that. Buffy…Buffy what? Loved him? For some reason he doubted it.

"Bugger…" He muttered, running his hand over his face as he flopped down on the couch. God he was tired… again. Sodding soul. Sighing, he rested his head on the arm of the couch. Maybe just a small nap, Buffy would be home soon, no time for nightmares to creep up on him, right?

----------

Buffy stared at her drink, watching the ice cubes rock back and forth as she swished her straw about.

"Buffy, I just don't trust him, that's all." Xander said calmly, fighting to keep from losing his temper. For some reason any conversation about the blonde vampire usually led to him shouting.

Buffy looked up, letting her straw fall back into her glass. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course, Buffy, you know that."

"I'm no asking you to trust him Xander, I'm asking you to trust me. I…" The slayer took a small breath and shook her head. "I trust him." She finished quietly.

"Why?" Xander asked simply. He had made a vow to himself before meeting his friend here tonight: ask questions, don't rant, listen. 

Buffy shrugged. "Because he loves me…"

"And because you love him."

"What?" Buffy asked, her eyes shooting up to meet his.

"It wasn't a question, Buff." He said with a grim look. "You love him…"

"Xander, I…"

"Buffy, look." Xander sighed and reached across the table, taking her hands in his. "I **don't** like him, there's no argument there, and I can't say I ever will… but I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Xander, I'm not trying to hurt you." Buffy said gently.

"I know, Buff. And when I said those things…I never meant to hurt you." 

Buffy smiled and leaned across the table, hugging him. "You know, I'm a little wary about this, last time we made up and hugged I got shot." She said sarcastically.

----------

Spike shot up from the couch, his eyes wide. He was shaking slightly and had broken into a cold sweat. "Oh God…" He muttered, standing and rushing down the hall. He coughed violently as he entered the bathroom, whatever was in his stomach deciding it didn't want to stay there any longer. 

Dawn rolled over sleepily, her eyes fluttering open. She strained her ears, trying to hear what was going on downstairs. She slipped from under her blankets and walked into the hall, concern etched on her face. "Spike?" She called lightly down the stairs.

"Go back t'bed, Nibblet." Spike managed to call back as he leaned back against the bathroom wall, sliding down to the floor and closing his eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked, remaining at the top of the stairs.

"M'fine, now get back t'bed 'fore your sis gets home and yells at you."

"You sure?"

He smiled slightly and shook his head. Persistent little bit, wasn't she? "Positive. Now get some sleep." He could hear her walking back into her room, finally giving up. He sighed and stood shakily. Walking over to the sink, he ran the cold water and splashed some on his face, trying to fight of the sickly heat he was feeling. "Bugger that was gross…." He muttered, making a mental note never to mix Twizzlers and blood ever again, especially when one's having some pretty graphic dreams about killing. He felt his stomach churn once more at the thought of the images that had emerged in his head only moments before.

Once again he cursed Lurky for giving him his soul back.

He groaned and walked back into the hall, running his fingers through his hair as he ascended the stairs. He walked into Buffy's room and over to the dresser, where he had a pack of cigarettes and a lighter thrown. He grabbed them, walked over to her window and climbed out. He had promised not to smoke in the house, so the roof would have to do. He hung his feet over the edge as he lit up, savoring the thick smoke as it entered his system. He concentrated on the stars above him, trying to clear his mind of everything else.

"You're pulling an Angel."

Spike's head snapped back to the window, where Buffy was grinning at him. He hadn't even heard her come in. He gave her a rather confused look, not quite understanding the comment.

"Angel always used to lurk outside my window, got kinda creepy sometimes." She explained, crawling out and sitting down next to him.

"Don't worry luv, m'not lurking, just hangin' out for a bit." He said, taking one last drag from the cigarette before flicking it to the ground below.

She nodded, swinging her feet back and forth. Her eyes drifted back up to him as he ran his hand over his forehead, taking an unnecessary breath. "What's wrong?" She asked softly, tilting her head to the side a bit to get a better look at him.

"Nothin'…" He muttered.

"You sure? I mean, you look kind of… upset."

Spike groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm fine, Slayer, I don't need your sympathy." He snapped. Buffy pulled back a bit, staring at him with wide eyes.

"…sorry." She muttered, her eyes falling.

The vampire groaned once more. "Look, Slayer, I'm sorry. It's just…" He sighed and looked around at the sky, looking at anything that wasn't her. "It's just weird to have you caring 'bout me all of a sudden…"

Buffy watched him for a few minutes, not speaking. When she still didn't speak, he turned to face her. "I cared before, Spike." She said the second he looked at her.

He snorted, "Not quite like this, pet. I just never thought I'd see the day when you'd be there to help me, that's all. I guess it's got me a bit unnerved."

"Yeah, I guess it's something neither of us saw coming…" she said with a small smile, turning her eyes downward.

"I think it's somethin' no one saw comin'." He corrected.

"Are you complaining?" She asked, giving him a small grin.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Never."

"I didn't think so." She replied, her eyes twinkling. "Now, I'm goin' to bed, you coming in or are you just gonna hang out here all night?" She asked, turning and hopping back through the window.

"I'll come in, but as tempting as it sounds, I think I'll pass on the sleep." He gave her a small smile.

"More bad dreams, eh?" She asked, grabbing his hand and helping him back inside.

"Yup, and this time they came with a small bonus." She gave him a questioning look. "Let's just say the Twizzler and blood thing wasn't a very good idea."

"Ew, ew, and ew, Spike."

"Sorry, luv. Though I doubt hearin' 'bout it was as bad as experiencin' it."

"Could we not be having this conversation? I just ate fries…" she muttered, making a slight face.

"You sure? Cause if you really want the details…" He grinned as she punched him in the arm.

"That's disgusting."

"I know." He said with a grin as he sat down on her bed.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed, it's late. Like, _really_ late, even for me." He nodded and stood, making his way towards the door. "Where are you going?" She asked, giving him a strange look.

"Downstairs."

She shrugged. "You don't have to, I mean, if you don't want to."

He smirked and walked back over to her, cupping her face in his hands. "Slayer, what do you think I want?" She smiled and watched him as he continued to stare her in the eye. He gave her a nervous smile before leaning down and brushing his lips against hers. She closed her eyes as his cool lips grazed hers, barely touching her flesh.

She pulled away, grinning. "That's all you're getting after your little Twizzler story, buddy."

A grin crept to his face and he rested his forehead against hers, kissing her lightly on the nose. "Weren't you sayin' somethin' just 'fore you left?"

"I don't remember." She said, grinning evilly. He smirked, brushing his hand down the side of her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head. When she looked up at him he was still smirking. She laughed. "All right, you win." She took a deep breath and smiled. "I love you, Spike."

TBC…

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A/N: Okay, we may have to throw in a bit of a plot next chapter just cuz I'm noticing a lack of demon-killing in the story . Plus it makes it a bit easier for me to tell where the characters are going, right now they're sorta just wandering about Sunnydale aimlessly, hence the movie theater scene :P Anyways, please keep reviewing and if anyone's interested in beta reading my stories I'd really appreciate it, I write these chapters way too fast for my own good and never find my mistakes. Grr, bad me.


	10. Bad news

"You know what?" Buffy asked absently, staring across the room.

"What?" Spike asked, running his fingers over her hair. She was resting with her head on his chest, her legs curled up against him.

"It's _really_ uncomfortable to sleep in jeans."

"Yes, I figured that out about fifty years ago." He said playfully. The Slayer rolled her eyes and sat up, smiling.

"Yes, Oh Knowing One." She shook her head and stood, walking over to close the blinds, which had been left open the night before. Making her way towards the door, she called out into the hallway. "Dawn, you up?"

"Yeah!" She heard Dawn yell from her room. Buffy shook her head and yawned as she shut the door. 

"Still tired, luv?"

"Little bit. How 'bout you, did you go back to sleep at all?" She asked, sorting through the clothes hanging in her closet.

"Nope."

She pulled a red shirt from a hanger and turned to face him. "So you just sat there?"

"Yup." He said simply, throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Sounds entertaining." She said sarcastically, sitting down next to him.

"It was. You make some pretty weird faces when you sleep."

She pouted. "Do not."

"Do too."

"So you sat there and watched me sleep?" She asked, smirking. He nodded as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "You're nothing but a big dork, you know that?"

"A dork? C'mon now, Slayer, you can do better than that."

"Yes, but not right now, I have to get Dawn to school." She said, thumping him on the back and standing.

"Whatever you say, luv." He said, shaking his head as he followed her into the hallway. "You know what?"

"What?" She asked, spinning back around to face him.

"I'm pretty sure I don't have Twizzler breath anymore." He said, walking up to stand in front of her.

"And your point is…" she droned, grinning. He cocked an eyebrow, smirking down at her. The small blonde laughed and leaned up, kissing the vampire.

"Um, ew." The pair broke apart to see Dawn standing in her door, not looking half as disgusted as she sounded. Actually, she seemed rather happy. The teen shook her head. "Get a room." She muttered before disappearing down the stairs.

Buffy smirked and looked down, patting him on the chest lightly. "I'm going to take a shower, do me a favor and make sure she eats something remotely healthy. I'll be down in a few."

"Sure thing, luv." He said, watching as she closed the door. He shook his head, grinning all-the-while as he walked downstairs. Dawn grinned at him as he walked into the kitchen. "What are you smiling at?" He asked, smirking.

She set the piece of toast she was buttering down and grinned. "So you and Buffy…you're like, a couple now?"

"Ask your sis." He said, grinning back at her. "Now eat your breakfast, you're gonna be late." Dawn rolled her eyes and went back to her toast.

The doorbell rang.

The pair exchanged a quick glance before heading towards the door. Spike pulled it open, carefully avoiding the rays of sunlight coming in. 

He scowled.

"Aren't you supposed to sleep during the day?" Xander asked, looking rather annoyed that the vampire was answering Buffy's door now.

Spike rolled his eyes. "What d'you want, Whelp?"

"I'm here to…wait, why am I telling you this?" He shook his head and walked past him and into the kitchen. Spike scowled and closed the door, following after him.

"Hey Dawnster, need a ride to school?" He asked.

"Uh..sure, I guess." The teen replied, looking past him and giving Spike a small smile. He was leaning against the doorframe, glaring slightly at Xander.

"Great. Uh, is Willow up yet?" Xander asked, casting a glance towards the stairs. The fact that the redhead was mad at him was really wearing him down and he desperately wanted to talk to her.

"Nah, she's still asleep." Dawn said, grabbing her books from the counter. 

"No big. I'll come back later." Xander said, following her towards the door. Spike resisted the urge to stick his foot out and tip him as he walked by.

"See ya later, Spike. Tell Buffy I said bye." Dawn said, smiling as she back out the door.

"Later, Nibblet." He locked eyes with Xander, who seemed just as uncomfortable as him. He smirked devilishly. "Bye Whelp." Xander made a face before closing the door. Spike grin faded. "Ninny…"

"Who was that?" Buffy asked, walking down the stairs.

"The almighty Whelp." Spike explained, feigning excitement.

Buffy grinned. "He take Dawn to school?"

"Yeah. Probably be back later, he wants t'talk t'Red."

"Good, he needs to." She said, walking into the livingroom. She poked her head around the corner of the couch and grabbed her tennis shoes from the floor. "I have to go to the store, you know, do the food thing. You want anything?"

"Actaully, yes." He pulled some money from his pocket and handed it to her. "Grab me some smokes, I'm almost out."

"You know, I should be giving you a lecture on how those things'll kill you." She said, shaking her head.

"You a bit late for that, pet."

"Well, then I'll have to settle with the it's-just-plain-nasty-and-is-a-waste-of-money speech."

"Believe me, compared to my little poetry stint this is bloody good habit to have. Just be glad I stopped writing 'fore I met you." He paused for a minute, pretending to be lost in thought. "Did you know poems didn't have to rhyme?" 

"I'm leaving now." She said with a grin. 

"You sure? Cause I mean, I might be able to pull out a few lines." He took a moment to clear his throat dramatically. "'Roses are red, violets are bl…'"

"Stop while you're ahead." The blonde warned playfully before disappearing out the door. 

Spike shrugged. "Hmm, speaking of Red…" He turned and headed back up the stairs, trailing his fingers along the banister. "Red? You up?" He knocked lightly on her door.

"Unfortunately…" came the grim reply.

He chuckled and pushed the door open. "Now see? That's no attitude, missy. What happened to the firey little redhead who helped me make breakfast yesterday?"

"Xander squished her…" She mumbled, burrowing her head further into her pillow.

"Oh, come on now. Whelp's an idiot, granted, but he didn't mean t'hurt you." Spike said, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

The girl looked down at him, her eyes red. "Yeah, he meant to hurt **you**."

"Like I said, Whelp's an idiot. Can't even make fun of me right." He replied with a smirk.

"It's not even making fun anymore, Spike, he's trying to make you leave."

"I know, but I think I'm the only person in town still in the running for 'Most Stubborn Evil Butt-Kicker.' I'm not goin' nowhere anytime soon if I don't have to."

"I think Dawn's catchin' up pretty fast.."Willow explained with a small smirk. "She's in the 'Stubborn Evil Butt-Kicker' club too, remember?"

Spike made a face. "Oh yeah, forgot about Nibblet. Hell, I don't think the Slayer n' me got a chance at winnin' now. Dawn's got it in the bag."

"Don't feel bad. You and Buffy have super-strength, but Dawn has super-strength **and **teenage hormones." Willow commented with a small smile.

"See? There's the Red will all know and love. Now come on, you insulted Dawn and her raging-teenage hormones, how bout we pick on Harris now?" Spike said eagerly. Willow gave him a small smile but didn't speak. "Fine, I'll go first. Let's see, Whelp's…"

Doorbell.

"…here." Spike rolled his eyes. "He said he was comin' back t'talk t'you."

"Yay for me." She said sarcastically, flopping her head back onto the pillow.

The doorbell rang again.

"Want me to tell him to bugger off?" Spike asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Yes." She said simply. He grinned and stood, ready to head downstairs. She caught his arm. "I was kidding."

"Well, that's good n' bad I suppose." He said with a shrug. "Good 'cause you still got your sense of humor, bad 'cause that means the Whelp's gonna be hangin' out 'ere all day."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry 'bout it."

"You want me to see if he wants to go get coffee or something? I mean, so we're not here to bug you?"

"Nah, I'll manage. 'sides, I'm not worried 'bout you buggin' me…"

Doorbell.

"…but he's another story. And no offense, Red, but you look like hell. Burying your head in a pillow n' cryin' ain't doin' much for you."

"Gee, thanks." She said, standing.

"No problem. Now go let the sap in 'fore he breaks the bloody bell."

----------

"Hey." Buffy greeted, smiling at the pair on her couch as she walked in, a few grocery bags in hand. "Xander, you're…here." Buffy looked around, expecting to see either a very hostile blonde vampire or a very non-intimidating pile of dust. "Um, where's Spike?"

"Upstairs behaving." Willow explained. Buffy gave her a confused look. "He's avoiding Xander." She added with a nod.

"Ahh, I see. So you two are friends now?" Buffy asked, setting one of the bags down.

"Me and Spike?" Xander asked, a disgusted look on his face.

"I bloody well hope not." Spike exclaimed, giving Xander a strange look as he descended the stairs.

"I was talking about you and Willow." Buffy said, smirking at Xander.

"Ah yes, negotiations are done and the treaty has been signed." Xander said with a nod. Everyone stared at him. "Okay, so there were no negotiations, just me begging for forgiveness."

"It worked." Willow chimed.

"Good, it's just weird when you two fight." Buffy said, relieved. "Oh, here." She rummaged through her pockets, producing a pack of cigarettes and handing them to the vampire.

"Newports?" He questioned, giving her a strange look.

"Well I didn't know what kind to get. I told the lady at the counter to give me whatever and she gave me these."

"These are girly cigarettes, luv." He said, smirking.

She patted him on the shoulder and shoved a grocery bag into his arms. "Good, it'll get some of that evil testosterone out of your system. Maybe you should share with Xander."

"Funny." He said with a smirk, following her into the kitchen.

The slayer set the bags she was carrying onto the table and began to grab things form them, sticking them in the appropriate cupboards. "So you were in the house with Xander without me around to play referee and you managed to hold your tongue? I'm impressed."

"Yes, despite popular belief ole Spikey has a shred of self-control." He said with a smirk, shoving a carton of milk into the fridge.

A small laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head. "Seriously, thank you."

"Don't sweat it."

"No, I mean, that's a **big** deal. When was the last time you were in the same vicinity as Xander and didn't make some snide remark? Hell, we should have a party."

"Oh yes, and we can use blood for frosting on the cake!" He said sarcastically, grinning.

"Why do you insist on ruining my appetite? First the Twizzlers and now cake. Sooner or later there's not going to be anything left for me to eat."

"Sure there will be. I don't like vegetables so you can have those, I pretty much ruin everything else." He said with a shrug.

"Oh goodie."

"Oh look, Pop Tarts!" He exclaimed, pulling a box of the breakfast pastries from the bag. "You know, these taste really neat if you…"

She put her hand over his mouth and pulled the box from him with the other, smirking. "Don't. I haven't eaten breakfast yet." He just grinned as she pulled her hand away. "You're impossible to live with, you know that?"

"In order for that to apply wouldn't I have to, I don't know, live here?" He asked, a smug grin in place.

She smiled slyly and walked over to him. Pulling him towards her, she kissed him. "Welcome home." 

"Buffy, we have a problem." Willow said a bit frantically, walking into the kitchen with the phone in hand. Xander followed in behind her, giving the vampire a wary glare.

Buffy backed away from the vampire a bit, staring at Willow in confusion. The phone? When did the phone ring? "Who is it?" She asked, casting Spike a worried glance.

"Giles." The redhead said simply, looking between the pair in front of her. "Maybe you should sit down…"

TBC…


	11. Dealing

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked again, not liking the look Willow was giving her. She looked at Spike for a moment before turning back to her friend. "Willow, what did he say? Is something wrong?"

"Buffy, can we just go sit in the livingroom? I don't think…"

"Willow." Buffy interrupted, growing impatient. 

Willow gave Buffy a grim smile and looked back and forth between her and Spike. "Well, Giles said that…h-he said…"

"He said Spike's soul isn't permanent." Xander snapped, finishing what his friend didn't have the heart to say. He watched as Buffy's eyes grew wide, almost frantic. And Spike, well, Spike almost looked like he was ready to cry.

"What?" Buffy asked quietly, not able to bring herself to look at the vampire in question.

Willow took a deep breath and set the phone on the table. "Giles did some research on that demon, Spike. He went on the information you gave him and looked it up." The redhead sighed and shook her head, dropping her gaze to the floor. "His gifts aren't permanent, they last through four moons before whoever or whatever he cast them on goes back to what they were before."

"So Spike's soul…" Buffy mumbled, not believing this.

"The next full moon's in two nights, Buff." Xander said quietly, hating how upset Buffy looked. He didn't mind the fact that Spike was hurting, but Buffy was another story. 

The slayer turned slowly to face the vampire, who hadn't said anything throughout the entire exchange. She swallowed the lump in her throat when she saw the devastated look in his eyes. "God, Spike…" she muttered, wrapping her arms around his neck as she began to cry. He encircled his arms around her waist, burying his head in her neck. She shivered when she felt his cool tears touch her flesh.

"I'm so sorry, luv…" He whispered.

Willow watched the pair for a moment, a wave a sympathy washing over her. Buffy had been through so much… Hell, Spike had been through so much, and it was all for nothing. What he had done to be with her was worthless. It was being snatched away. She shook her head sadly before grabbing Xander by the arm and pulling him from the room, leaving the slayer and the vampire alone.

"What do we do?" Buffy asked softly after a few moments, her head still buried in his shirt.

"I don't know, pet." He said grimly, more tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I don't know…"

She sniffled and clenched her eyes shut, trying to control her tears. "I love you…"

He choked. "I love you too, Slayer…"

----------

"There has to be someway we can stop this, I mean, a spell or something? Anything…" Willow continued to flip through the book in her lap, desperate to find a way to help her friend. Her, Xander, and Anya we're in the magic shop, trying to find some way of reversing the spell.

"So we have two days to find out how to anchor his soul?" Anya asked curiously from her perch on the counter. 

"Well…no. We have until sunset tomorrow." Willow said sheepishly. Realizing how short on time they were, she began to flip through the book a bit quicker.

"Why are we helping him, anyway? I mean, he loses his soul, we kill him, end of problems." Xander said simply. Willow and Anya both stared at him coldly.

"And what would Buffy say about that?" Anya asked icily.

Xander smiled grimly. "Yeah, I guess that would be a bit of a problem…"

"Xander, if you won't do this for him, do it for **her**. Do you have any idea how much losing him would hurt her?" Willow asked quietly. She smiled slightly as her friend sighed defeatedly, grabbing a book from the center of the table.

"Hey gang, what's up?" Dawn asked cheerily as she walked through the door. "Oo, research." She exclaimed, picking up a book and examining the cover. "New badie?" she questioned a bit excitedly, loving the prospect that she may be able to kick some serious demon booty. The trio in the room exchanged silent glances, but none spoke. Dawn's face fell. "What's wrong?" 

The group remained quiet for a few more moments before Willow spoke. "Dawnie, it's about Spike…"

Dawn's eyes grew wide. "Spike? God, what happened? Is he okay?!" She rambled, panicking.

"He's fine, Dawn. He's at your house with Buffy, safe and sound." Willow said gently.

"Then what's wrong?" Dawn asked quietly, looking between their grim faces for answers.

----------

Spike was sitting on the couch, his head buried in his hands. How could he have been so stupid? I mean, anyone with sense would find out a bit more about a demon before traveling across the world to see it, but no, not him. He hears someone mention in a bar about some will-granting demon in Uganda and he hops on the next flight, not even bothering to find out it's name.

Stupid wanker.

"Spike?"

The vampire looked up to be met with the face of a rather sad looking Dawn. He hadn't even heard her come in. "Hey Bit…" he said dejectedly. 

One look into his tearful eyes and Dawn knew Willow had told her the truth. She sat down next to him, dropping her eyes to the ground. "So I guess it's true, huh?"

He ran his hand through his hair and looked to the ground as well. "Yeah, guess so…"

"It's no big though, right? I mean, you didn't have your soul before and you still cared about us." She asked hopefully.

He shook his head, honestly unsure. "I don't know, Bit." He said quietly, not looking at her. "I mean, Angel loved your sis when he had his soul, but then when he lost it…"

"But you cared without your soul. It's different." She said, her eyes pleading with him to agree that it would be okay.

"God, I hope so…" He muttered, suppressing the thought that he might hurt them.

Dawn remained quiet for a moment, twiddling her finger nervously. "Where's Buffy?" she asked softly.

"Went for a walk." He said simply.

"Oh…"

Spike remained quiet, unsure what else to say to the girl. He couldn't honestly tell he it would be alright, because what if it wasn't? What if something in him snapped when he lost his soul and he tried to kill them? The chip no longer worked, which meant… His eyes shot to look at her when she laid her head on his shoulder.

God, what if he tried to kill them?

His eyes teared up as he ran his hand over her hair, cursing the thought of ever hurting her. He wouldn't.

No, he couldn't.

"I have to go, Nibblet." He said standing.

She stood quickly, her eyes frantic. "Go? Go where?"

"T'think." He said softly, watching the teen. He sighed when she didn't speak and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you, Nibblet. You got that, right?"

"Yeah…" she said softly, returning the hug. "I love you too." She muttered, pulling back from him. He gave her a grim smile before turning and heading up the stairs towards Buffy's room.

----------

Buffy sat in a corner booth at the Bronze, staring absently at the wall. She had third empty glasses in front of her and they **weren't** from diet pepsi. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, but she didn't care. She lifted a third glass to her lips, sipping at it. She savored the alcohol as it scorched her throat, making her forget for an instant why she was brooding.

But as soon as the feeling was gone that unmistakable lump caught in her throat.

"Hey luv." Buffy looked up to see Spike standing above her, watching her with pained eyes. "Can I sit down?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry…" She scooted over, allowing him to take a seat beside her.

"I think I'm starting to brush off on you." He said playfully, eying the empty glasses in front of her.

"I told you you were a bad influence." She replied, giving him a small smirk as she finished of her fourth glass.

He smiled slightly before sighing and giving her a serious look. "You okay?"

She shrugged. "I don't know…"

He ran his hand over her hair and rested it on the base of her neck. "I'm sorry, luv."

She stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. Giving him a small smile, shook took his hand in hers and laid her head against his arm. "What are we going to do?" She asked softly.

"Nibblet said the others are looking for a loophole, but they're not finding much." He replied quietly.

"That's 'cause we suck in the research department without Giles around." Buffy said matter-of-factly. He chuckled slightly and rested his head against hers.

"I love you, Buffy, and I'd never hurt you. You know that, right?"

"Mmhmm." She sighed, closing her eyes.

And he wouldn't. No matter what happened, he wouldn't hurt her, he'd make sure of it.

TBC….

----------

A/N: Well, I need your opinion. Should I throw in the fang gang from LA or just stick to the Scoobies? I have an idea of what I'm gonna do either way, but I know some people are more fond of crossovers than others. The next chapter will be written later tonight, so I'll go by what a majority of the reviews suggest by then. Please let me know, I want to keep this goin' and I'm not too sure what you want to see happen!


	12. Frozen

A/N: Alright, the votes are in and the winner is….Crossover! Lol, sorry to those who didn't want it, but I'll make you a deal. As soon as I finish the crossover version of the story I'll write a second ending, picking up where Spike left and omitting the Fang Gang. So, if you didn't want the crossover I'm sorry, but an Angel-free version will be available soon, promise! Until then, enjoy Angel and all his broody goodness and please keep reviewing and let me know what you think J

----------

"We should probably go help them." The Slayer suggested, still cuddled up against the vampire in the booth.

"Yeah, probably…" He agreed. Neither of them moved. "I think helping them would involve getting up, luv."

"Sad, but true."  She commented, sitting up. "Do you think we'll find anything?" She asked softly, watching him stand.

He shrugged, offering her his hand. "Don't know."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the reassurance." 

"Think nothing of it." He said with a grin.

"Believe me, I won't. Now come on." She said, leading him towards the door by the hand.

"Um, Buffy, I'm goin' t'head back t'your place n' get some blood." He said when they reached the cool streets. "I'll meet you at the shop later."

"I'll go with you."

"No." He snapped quickly, causing her to give him a strange look. "I mean, why don't you head to the shop and get a jump on the research thing. I can go back by myself, 'sides, I need some time t'think."

"You sure?"

He stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I'm sure…." He leaned down, kissing her lightly. "I'll see you later…" He gave her a small smile before turning and heading down the street. She watched him for a few moments before turning and heading in the other direction.

Spike glanced back over his shoulder to make sure she was gone. When he didn't see her, he slipped into an alley and walked quickly down it. Emerging from the other side, his eyes focused on the motorcycle he had parked there earlier. He climbed on, staring at the ground for a few moments.

No, he would never hurt them.

With a grim look of determination on his face he turned it on and sped down the street.

Out of Sunnydale.   

----------

"I thought you said Spike was meeting you here? It's been over an hour now…" Willow asked, looking at Buffy. 

"I dunno, maybe he got caught up or something." Buffy said with a shrug. She turned to Dawn, who was perched on the counter reading. "Dawnie, call home, see if he's still there."

Dawn nodded and picked up the phone, punching in her number. Everyone else went back to researching aside from Buffy, who sat watching her sister expectantly. Dawn hung up. "No answer."

"I'm going to look for him." Buffy said, grabbing her jacket as she stood and stormed out the door. She moved quickly, fear flooding her mind.

"Buffy, wait!" Dawn screeched, running after her sister. The rooms remaining occupants looked between each other, unblinking.

"Should we help them?" Anya asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Nah, he's probably just walking around, lost track of time. Angel used to do that, you know, brood." Willow said with a shrug. Somehow she had managed to become the head of this little operation, magically transforming from Cry-Like-A-Baby-Willow to Take-Command-And-Know-What-To-Do-Willow.

"Thanks, Will. Crush my hope that some big nasty finally got the better of him." Xander chirped. Willow gave him a smirk and kicked him.

----------

Spike hopped down from the bike, running his hand through his extremely mussed up hair. He didn't think he'd ever ridden that fast in his life. Hell, he had made the two hour and fifteen minute trip in a little more than an hour. Sure, one was bound to get pulled over when going that fast – and he did. So he vamped out, caused the poor officer to faint in fright, and left. 

See? One could have a soul and still be evil, even if it was only a _little_ bit evil.

The blonde gave up on trying to fix his unruly hair and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Lighting it and inhaling, he groaned. "Bloody sissy cigarettes…" Making the best of it, he took a long drag before tossing it to the street. Taking an unnecessary breath and cracking his neck, he sauntered up to the building. Something told him he was going to regret this.

"Peaches?! Guess who's here to visit! Where the hell are you?!" He called, walking into the lobby. His eyes shot to the stairs as a small girl appeared, her long brown hair drawn back in a ponytail. She pushed her glasses up and smiled as she descended the stairs.

"Sorry, I was upstairs. How can I help you?" She asked, smiling all the while.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" He asked, giving her a strange look.

Her face fell. "I-I'm Fred."

"Ain't that a guy's name?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow as he grinned.

"It's short for Winifred." She explained, her smile slowly returning.

"Gotcha. Now where's the Grand Poof hidin'?"

"Grand Poof?" she asked, her face scrunching up.

"Angel." Spike explained.

"You're looking for Angel?"

Spike turned at the sound of a male's voice. He was met with the sight of a well built black man emerging from one of the hotel's hallways. "Yeah…" He looked back and forth between Fred and Gunn, who now stood on either side of him. "Right, now who the hell are you?"

"Gunn." He said, extending his hand. Spike stared at it for a moment then look up at him.

"M'not here t'make friends, I'm here to talk to Peaches. Now, where is the Ponce?"

Gunn's friendly smile faded. Spike turned back to Fred when she cleared her throat. "We don't know where he is. He disappeared a few months ago…" She said quietly.

"Disappeared? As in…"

"Gone." Gunn finished for him. "Him, Cordy, and Connor, all gone."

"Kay, I know who the cheerleader is, but who's Connor?" Spike asked, not liking the sudden barrage of new people. Angel wasn't supposed to make friends, he was too much of an oaf to have friends.

"Angel's son." Fred explained.

"…son?" Spike looked at her like she was mad. "Peaches has a kid?!"

"…yes?"

"Well, certainly din't see that one comin'…." The vampire commented, shaking his head. 

"No one did." Gunn chimed. "Sorry man, but I didn't catch your name." He looked at the blonde expectantly.

"Spike."

"Spike?! As in Angel's Spike?!" Fred screeched, jumping behind Gunn. He pulled a cross from his jacket, holding it up in front of Spike's face.

"Bloody Hell!!" Spike yelled, backing away. "Cor, I'm not here t'hurt you!"

"You're a vampire." Gunn said flatly.

"Yeah, I kind of knew that." Spike said, aggravated.

"What do you want?" Gunn continued.

"I told you, I need to talk to Peaches."

"Well we don't know where he is." Gunn snapped, not lowering his cross.

"Look., mate, vampires don't just disappear, they go somewhere. Now where the hell was he when you lat saw 'im?" Spike growled, growing impatient.

"He was going to the beach to meet Cordelia." Fred said softly.

Spike looked at the clock on the wall. Six hours until sunrise. He turned back to Gunn. "Can you take me there?"

"Why should we…"

"Do you want me to help you find him or not?!" Spike spat, glaring at him. "Look, I don't know what he's told you about me, but I'm not what you think I am. Not any more, at least." He added, trying to gain their trust. "Now, if you don't mind, I really need to find his Poofy arse and have a chat with him and it would be **a lot** easier if you lot helped me."

----------

"You know, I'm **really** startin' to dislike you." Spike growled from his seat in the bed of the truck. Gunn was driving and Fred had a crossbow pressed against his head from the back window. The vampire's hair was blowing about wildly in the wind, destroying any hope that he would every get it untangled again. Great, he thought, now he was _really_ staring to act like the Brood Master, all worrying about his hair and such.

"Sorry, it's just that Angel's family likes to try and kill us." Fred said sincerely, adjusting the crossbow. The arrow hit him in the side of the head.

"Well can you at least stop pokin' me with that? It doesn't bloody tickle." He asked, swatting at the point of the bow.

"Sorry." Fred said, pulling it back inside a bit.

Spike gave her a weird look. "What kind of demon hunter are you, anyway? I mean, you're a twig and your bein' all nice. You're supposed t'hate me, remember?"

She shrugged. "You don't seem very dangerous."

He smirked. "Thanks….I think."

----------

"Buffy!" Dawn called, her voice trembling. She could hear her sister racing up the stairs.

"Dawn, what's wrong? Did you…" Buffy began, only to stop when she saw what her sister was pointing at. Some of Spike's things were scattered on the floor in her room, some of his clothes obviously missing. She walked in, her eyes scanning what remained of his belongings. She spun around slowly to face her sister, her eyes flooding with tears as realization hit her. "He left…."

----------

"This is where they were supposed to meet." Gunn explained, shutting the truck of. Fred pulled her weapon back through the window, even though she hadn't really had it aimed at the vampire for most of the drive. She didn't really see the need to, if he was going to kill them he would have done it by now. Fred hopped out, following her boyfriend over to the rock ledge that overlooked the beach. Spike sauntered up beside them, surveying the area. "I don't see why we're here, it's been months, he' long…" Spike jumped from the ledge, landing with a soft thud on his boots at the bottom of the thirty-foot drop. "..gone." Gunn finished, rolling his eyes.

"Should we follow him?" Fred asked, looking up at him.

"Should we? No. Will we? Yes. He seems to have some idea of how to find Angel and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit around if there's some way we can get him back." 

Fred nodded and the two began to descend the rocky slope, helping each other to keep from falling.

Spike shuffled through the sand, a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. Something wasn't right here, he could feel it. A shudder ran through his body as he looked around. Funny, it was like Angel was here, but…he wasn't. The vampire's face scrunched up. "All right, Poof, what the hell have you gotten your sorry arse into this time?" He asked quietly, exhaling a stream of smoke into the cool night air. His eyes fell to his feet as the light ocean waves lapped his boots. His icy blue eyes drifted up to look further out to sea.

"Um, hey, Superhero. What exactly are we accomplishing by being here?" Gunn called as he and Fred finally made it down. They began to walk towards the vampire, who was just staring at the water, his head cocked slightly to the side.

No, something wasn't right. He could feel it. Spike looked back down at the water as it washed over his feet. Then it hit him. He threw his jacket to the sand behind him and marched forward, sending water through the air as he waded further into the Pacific. He stopped when he was a little less than waist deep in the icy cold water and stared down as it rippled around him. He then turned back to the pair on the beach, his pail skin illuminated by the nearly full moon. "You wouldn't happen t'have a really big boat, would you?"

----------

"What are you doing?!" Fred asked frantically, nearly tripping over her feet as she tried to keep up with the fast pace Spike was walking at. He was soaked, but he didn't seem to notice. Or he didn't care.

"Gettin' us a boat." He said simply as he marched onto a dock.

"A boat? For what?" Gunn asked, thoroughly confused by the vampire. He had always thought Angel was the most confusing vampire on the face of the planet, but he was starting to have his doubts.

Spike hopped over the edge of a large fishing boat. He snapped the chain locking it to the dock easily and unloosed the rope holding it in place. "You said you wanted to find Peaches, din't you?" He asked with a smirk before marching over to the control deck. He looked it over and sighed. Dropping to the ground and rolling onto his back, he began to tamper with the wiring.

"You're hotwiring a fishing boat?" Gunn asked curiously, helping Fred off the dock and onto the boat.

"Angel may be a goody-two shoes Poof who still thinks it's best to travel by horse and buggy, but I live in the twenty-first century." He said with a grin as he stood, the boat rumbling to life.

----------

"Anya, can you do a locating spell?" Buffy asked frantically as her and Dawn walked back into the shop, both looking thoroughly distressed.

"A locating spell? For what?" The vengeance demon asked curiously.

"Spike. He's gone." Buffy said hurriedly.

"Why, Buff, did something happen?" Willow asked, looking a bit worried.

Buffy's eyes fell. "No…" She mumbled.

"What? Then why…"

"He left, alright?! He left again. The great Mister Responsible up and ran away." Buffy spat, frustrated. She wasn't sure what she was feeling anymore: Anger, pain, fear, sadness, guilt. 

Everyone remained quiet for a moment. "…Yeah, yeah. I can do it, but it's going to take some time." Anya finally said.

----------

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" Gunn asked impatiently. Fred was holding onto him, trying to shield herself from the cold ocean breeze. Spike stopped the boat and stormed out of the cabin, grabbing a scuba flashlight from a shelf as he stormed out. "Hello? Are you not hearing me, what are you doing?!"

Spike hopped up onto the rail of the boat, peering over the edge. "Here goes nothing…" He said to himself before diving headfirst into the icy water. The cold hit him like a thousand daggers, making his chest hurt. Cursing to himself, he began to swim deeper, scanning the area with the light. Why the hell did the ocean have to be so bloody deep? He continued to swim, growing a bit weary from the cold. Sure, he was dead and didn't need to breathe, but ice water wasn't exactly where he wanted to be swimming right now.

He froze, staring wide-eyed at the ocean floor, despite the fact that the salt water was burning his eyes furiously. He brought the light closer and nearly screamed when he saw the older vampire's face, tucked away safe and dry in… a coffin? A big metal coffin with a window. Right…. He got closer, trying to find a way to open the encasement. His eyes kept floating to Angel's face, almost expecting the vampire to wake up and glare at him for being there, which was rather immposible seeing as vampires slipped into a sort of coma if deprived of blood for long periods of time. Another decade or so and the Poof would be a rather creepy skeleton with a taste for blood. He shook the thought of and searched some more, finding nothing. Casting one last glance at the dark haired vampire, he began to swim back towards the surface.

Breaking the surface of the water, he took an unnecessary breath, throwing himself into a coughing fit as he fought to get the water from his lungs. Bloody uncomfortable, it was, seeing as it felt like there was an ice cube in his chest. Fred and Gunn were staring at him as he climbed back aboard, his clothes dripping wet. 

Gunn lost it. He stormed up to the blonde, grabbing him by the back of the shirt and pulled him down from the rail. "Look, either you tell us why the hell we're in the middle of the Pacific swimming or I stake your ass and go home, got it?"

Spike glared at him and pulled away. "We don't have time, there's only a few hours until sunrise. Now hand me those chains over there." He instructed, pointing towards the end of the boat. Fred gave Gunn a quick glance before walking over and scooping the ends of them from the ground. Spike grabbed the chains from Fred as she walked back over. "Thanks, luv. Now do me a favor and lock this in place over there." He said, handing her a section of one of the chains. He climbed back up onto the rail, chain in hand. Smirking, he turned back to Gunn. "Time to wake up Grand Dad." He grinned before flinging himself backwards into the water, breaking the night's silence with a horrendous splash.

Gunn and Fred rushed to the rail, peering over the edge once more. "What's he doing?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling something bad's about to happen." Fred said nervously. They waited for what seemed like hours before the vampire emerged once more, his once marble skin now holding a sickly blue color. He climbed back onto the ship, coughing and hacking from the water. His hands were shaking from the cold and his eyes were red, but he didn't seem to care. Walking back to the end of the ship, he pushed a button. The boat jolted as the chains were pulled up. Sure, the machinery was supposed to be used to pull up nets, but it was working, wasn't it?

"What's going on?!" Gunn demanded as Fred braced herself against him, trying to hold her footing as the boat rocked. 

"I told you already. We're getting Peaches." Spike answered flatly, marching over to where the metal box was being pulled onboard. The rattling chains came to a halt and everyone remained silent, staring at the metal encasement in front of them.

"What is it?" Fred finally asked, walking towards the vampire. He stopped her by holding up a hand.

"Wait." He turned, searching around. "Where's my coat?"

"Here." Gunn said, tossing the leather duster to the blonde. Spike shoved his hand into one of the pockets, producing a packet of blood he had brought when they left the hotel yet had neglected to eat. 

"Stay back." He warned, his stomach turning. His sire had been locked up in a box in the Pacific for God knows how long, he was going to be in one hell of a mood when he woke up. The blonde took a step forward, his eyes resting on Angel's face for only a brief moment. "We're going to need something to open this up. Go below deck and se if you can find anything." He instructed, not looking at the pair behind him. They didn't move. "Now!" He roared, glaring at them. The sun would be up within the next two hours and he really didn't feel like tanning. Plus, he was bloody cold.

TBC….


	13. Phone call from....God?

Willow gave her friend a concerned look. Buffy was sitting in one of the shop's chairs, her knees drawn up and her chin resting on them. Her green eyes were flooded with tears, but she refused to cry. Always the hero. She was staring blankly into the air, not talking to any of them. Willow was helping Xander and Anya find a locating spell, which was rather difficult considering most of them were for humans.

"What about this one?" Dawn asked, pointing out a page to Willow. Willow read it over and her face fell.

"Sorry, Dawnie. You need an orb of Tookula for that one."

"So? Can't we get one?" The teen asked impatiently, wanting almost as much as Buffy to find the vampire.

"We could, if they all hadn't been destroyed over four-hundred years ago in a dark war." Anya explained, looking up from her book.

"God! What's the point of having these stupid texts if we can't use half the stuff in them?!" The teen shouted, slamming the book down on the table. The sound caused Buffy to jump, but she still didn't speak.

"Dawn, calm down. We'll keep looking." Xander said softly, eyeing the teen with sympathy.

"Where could he have gone? I mean, it's not like Spike has much in the way of friends." Willow began, earning her a glare from Buffy. "I'm just saying, where do you think he would have gone?"

"Back to Africa?" Anya suggested.

"Yeah, what if he went to see that demon again." Xander said, understanding what Anya was getting at.

"Well, can we call? I mean, there are phones in Africa, right?" Dawn asked, looking hopeful.

"And what? Ask if they happened to see a blonde vampire walking around?" Xander said. "Besides, he wouldn't be there by now. That's like, across the world… and I'm not too sure on the phone issue."

"They have phones in Africa, Xander." Willow assured him. "But I don't think he would have gone there. I mean, what's it going to accomplish? It's not like the demon can make his soul permanent anyway, it doesn't have that kind of power."

"Then we keep looking." Dawn said sternly, casting a quick glance at her sister. "We're not stopping until we find him."

----------

"You alright back there?" Gunn called, looking in his rearview mirror to make sure the vampires were still intact. Angel's lifeless body was lying across the bed of the truck and Spike was huddled in the corner. He had his arms wrapped around his legs in a feeble attempt to ward of the cold, but seeing as he was still soaked and that they were driving fifty miles an hour didn't help.

"Bloody peachy…" He muttered, shivering. God he hated being cold.

"We'll be back to the hotel soon." Fred assured him, offering him a small smile. Her eyes fell back to Angel, who was considerably thinner and was white as a ghost. She didn't think he could look anymore dead without being actually, erm, dead. Well, you get the idea…

Spike shuddered, glaring at the other vampire. Stupid wanker had to get himself thrown into the ocean and _who_ had to come to his rescue? Spike. That's bloody right, it was the Poof's fault he had to go swimming in the bloody Pacific in the middle of the night to pull his sorry arse up from a watery grave. The glowering blonde vampire almost fell forwards as Gunn stopped the truck.

"Alright, let's get him inside." Gunn said, hopping from the driver's side door and walking around to the back of the truck. Spike hopped out, glaring at the look Gunn was giving him. "Hey man, I didn't say a word."

"You'd look like hell too if you had to save this Ponce, so don't start with me." He warned, grabbing his sire by one arm as Gunn hefted the other. Together, they lugged to unconscious vampire into the hotel.

----------

"Get out." Spike ordered as he walked into Angel's room. Fred looked up from her seat beside the bed, a bit startled. Spike was looking at her sternly, freshly adorned in some dry clothes. He looked considerably warmer, dispite the fact that his lips still had a blue tint to them. "Now." He ordered.

"But why?" She asked softly.

"'cause when Nancy boy wakes up he's gonna be inna pretty pissy mood, not to mention hungry." Spike explained. "Now go." Fred obediently walked out of the room, leaving the two vampires alone. Spike locked the door and turned back to his sire.

Now the fun part: waking him up.

He marched over to the bed, cocking his head to the side at the sight of the prone form. Stupid Pillock, what kind of moron ends up in a metal box in the Pacific? The blonde snorted and stood above him, sneering. "Hey, nancy boy, get up." He said, poking him roughly. "Come on, I've got food." He called in a sing-song voice, swishing around a mug of blood he had brought up. Angel didn't stir. Spike scowled.

Fine. Be that way.

"Hello!? Earth to Grand Master Poof!" He shouted in the vampire's ear. Angel still didn't stir. "Bloody hell, would you just wake up already, I don't have all day…." He grumbled, setting the mug on the nightstand. He glared at Angel…

…and smacked him.

The vampire flinched slightly and Spike grinned. "Now we're getting somewhere…" He said absently. He swung again, nailing him sharply in the face with the back of his hand. Angel began to stir. Spike backed away as the older vamp came too.

"Mmmm…" He muttered, sitting up slightly but not opening his eyes.

"'ello, Peaches." Spike said, grinning.

Angel's eyes flew open.

----------

"Anya, do you think you'd be able to do this one?" Willow asked, handing over the text shewas reading to the vengeance demon. She could have done it, yes, but she was still wary of doing _any_ magic.

"I might, I mean, it's a bit powerful, but I think we have most of the stuff here." Anya said, reading it over. "But I don't read Beronian."

"That's alright. I've translated Beronian texts for Giles before, it won't take me long to translate it." Willow said with a small smile, taking the book back. She looked at Buffy, who was staring at her with hopeful eyes.

"Come on Buff, it looks like we're free from the research thing. Wanna go get some doughnuts with me?" Xander asked gently, trying to coax Buffy from her chair. The sun had risen a few hours ago and all of them were pretty hungry, though no one had bothered to mention anything until now. "Come on, as much as I hate to say it we'll have the Evil Undead back in no time." He told her with a grin, extending his hand towards her. She smiled slightly and allowed him to pull her to her feet

----------

"So, Poof, did you have a nice na…" Spike didn't get the last word out as Angel sprung from the bed, grabbing the younger vampire by the neck and slamming him against the wall.

"What are you doing here?" He growled, glaring at Spike with pure hatred.

"Saving your sorry arse, Poofter. Now get off." Spike explained, trying to shrug free of Angel's grasp. The struggle only resulted in the dark haired vamp tightening his hold.

"I'll kill you." He growled.

"Right. I come to LA for a nice peaceful chat with you, wind up freezing my arse off in the bloody ocean to save you, and you wanna kill me. You have a thing or two t'learn about gratitude, dontcha?" Spike said, glaring. He watched as a pained look crossed Angel's face. "Ah, so your remembering 'bout your little underwater adventure, aren't you? You know, a big ole metal box, little window about yay big." He said, smirking as he made motions with his hands.

"Connor…" Angel said grimly, evidently lost in thought.

"Ah yes, your kid. Thanks for tellin' me 'bout him, by the way. It's good t'know you let your family in on these things." He muttered sarcastically, trying once more to free himself from Angel's grip.

"Why are you here?" Angel finally asked, his sour expression returning.

"I told you, I want to talk to you." He said flatly, finally pulling the older vampire off of him. Spike looked Angel over as he took a step back. He made a face. "I know you've always been a sissy Poofter, but you look like hell."

"Get out." Angel commanded, glaring.

"Um, no." Spike said cockily, walking around the older vamp and over to the nightstand. He grabbed the blood and turned back to him. "'ere, eat something. You're all thin and gross lookin' and it's creepin' me out." He said honestly. Angel eyed the liquid suspiciously, but didn't drink it. Spike snorted. "Hell, why does everyone think I bloody poisoned their food? I'm not that low, I would at least kill you with my hands if I wanted too. You know, shred you into little pieces?"

Angel took the cup, but didn't drink it.

"You know what? Fine, don't eat. As long as it don't effect your ability t'talk I don't much care." Spike growled impatiently.

"Why are you here?" Angel asked again, sitting down on the edge of the bed. His dark eyes were locked on Spike, watching his every moved like a hawk.

"Well, seems you ain't so one of a kind anymore." Angel gave him a confused look. Spike rolled his eyes. "Alright Poof, let's think about this one, see if that brain in your head still works. You're the only vampire with a soul, you're **not** so one of a kind no more, and I'm here. Can we put two and two together now?"

It took a moment, but Angel's eyes went wide in realization and he nearly dropped the mug.

"You laugh once and I'll bloody tear your head from your shoulders." Spike warned.

----------

"Well, did it work?" Dawn asked impatiently, looking at Anya and then down at the diagram on the floor.

"Well, if it's just supposed to sit there, then yes, I'd say it worked." Xander said, staring at the pattern as well.

"I don't get it, I did everything right." Anya huffed, double-checking her book to make sure they had scribbled the diagram correctly. She looked back between the text and the floor a few times and sighed. "I don't know. It looks right."

"Maybe it's not the diagram, maybe I translated it wrong." Willow chimed, grabbing the notepad Anya had read the spell from. "I can double check and see if…"

"I don't think we have enough time for you to check it. I mean, the sun set in a few hours." Anya said. Buffy flinched.

"I can hurry, I mean, if I just check to main stuff I could…" Willow began.

"No, just get the spell done. We're going to find him either way." Buffy said flatly.

"But Buff, if we don't find him by sunset…"

"We're **going **to find him. I don't care when." The slayer ground out. "Besides, even if we did find him before sunset, what could we do?" She added softly. Everyone remained silent, assuring her that there was nothing that _could_ be done. "Just find him…"

----------

Spike couldn't help but smirk at the emotions playing on Angel's face. He decided not to try any witty comments and remained quiet, letting this new information sick into the Poof's head. Angel was just sitting there, dumbfounded.

"Gypsies?" He asked suddenly, looking up at the blonde, still a bit shocked.

"Huh?"

"Were you cursed?"

"No, Peaches, unlike you and all your bloody righteousness I **earned** my soul. I didn't get it for eatin' some wacky hypno-lady."

"You're lying." Angel said simply, now glaring at the younger vamp.

"Oh yes, Peaches, I came all the way out here t'tell you I'm just like you because it's always been my dream, really. I want t'prance around bein' all goody-goody and making sure my hair isn't messed up." Spike shot snidely. "Now, as much as I hate t'break your unbeatin' heart, you're not my bloody rolemodel! Cor, who the hell would want to be like you anyway? Sorry Grand-dads, but I earned this thing fair and square, I didn't stumble upon it like you."

"How?" He asked, standing.

"Well, I beat the shit outta a bunch of wankers and got one wish from some creepy demon." He said, putting it simply.

"You _wanted_ a soul?"

"No." Spike snapped quickly. "I wanted… oh hell, I don't know what I wanted."

"So  when you didn't ask for anything, he gave you your soul?" Angel asked, his brow knitting.

"Who said I din't ask for anything?" 

----------

"Do you think he's up yet?" Fred asked, casting a glance up the stairs from her perch on the counter. 

"Doubt it." Gunn said, not looking up from a magazine.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for one, I don't hear any fighting. Now, goin' on those stories Angel told us about his 'kid', I'd say he won't be very happy to see him when he gets up."

Fred shrugged. "I guess you're right. But he doesn't seem that bad, really. I mean, he was sort of nice. Well, maybe he has a bit of an attitude, but still, what vampire doesn't?"

They both jumped as Spike came tumbling down the stairs, crashing into the wall at the bottom. 

"None that I know of." Gunn said, standing. Fred followed after him, glancing nervously up the stairs.

"Hey man, why don't you…" Gunn started, offering a hand to the fallen blond.

"Bugger off." Spike muttered, climbing to his feet. He smirked as Angel emerged at the top of the stairs, scowling. Seems ole Peaches didn't like the idea of him being what Buffy deserved. Grinning, he made his way back up the stairs. "S'matter Poof? We wouldn't be jealous, would we?"

Angel punched him in the nose. Spike stumbled backwards, but caught himself on the banister. "Well, now we know where the Slayer picked up that little habit, don't we?" He said, still grinning as he wiped the blood from his nose.

"She'll never love you, Spike." Angel growled, grabbing him by his collar and lifting him from the ground. He held him halfway over the banister, ready to throw him down to the ground.

"A bit late for that speech, mate." 

"She wouldn't."

"She **has**. In more ways than one, mind you." Spike said with a grin. Angel snarled and pulled him away from the banister, slamming him against the wall behind him.

"No."

"Um, yes." Spike said with a nod. "Now le'go." He pushed Angel away and glared at him.

"You're a monster, Spike. You don't know how to love anybody but yourself." Angel ground out.

"I'm not arguing on the monster part, but I beg to differ on the second statement." Spike sneered. Angel continued to glare, but didn't say anything. "..that's why I'm here." Both remained silent for a few moments, Angel glaring and Spike looking expectant. Angel jumped as someone tapped his shoulder.

"Hi." Fred said simply, grinning. She had wandered up the stairs, unnoticed by the feuding vampires.

"Fred." Angel said, giving the girl a small smile. She lunged at his as soon as he spoke, hugging him.

"Wow. You're here. I mean, it's been so long. Four months, exactly, well, give or take a few days. It's been kinda lonely around here without you and…"

"Fred, slow down." Angel said, smirking as the girl rambled.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. "It's just.. we missed you." Angel looked down the stairs to find Gunn smirking at him. 

"I missed you guys too." He said, grinning.

"Liar." Spike said simply. Everyone turned to face him. "What? The wanker was asleep, he din't bloody miss you."

Angel sent him flying down the stairs once more.

----------

"Anything?" Dawn asked, looking at Anya expectantly.

The demon sighed. "No. And this is the third spell we've tried, I don't think it's going to work." She huffed, slamming the translations down on the table.

"We have to try again. I mean, we can't just give up." Buffy said, looking between her friends.

"And what do you suggest we do, Buff? Call God and ask if he'd be so kind as to tell us where Bleach Boy is?" Xander asked, a bit tired of researching. Researching to find **him.**

They all jumped when the phone rang. Buffy gave everyone a quick glance before standing and heading towards the phone quickly, hoping that it was him. "Hello?" All eyes locked on her as she listened, a mirage of emotions running over her face. After a few moments she hung up, looking a bit stunned.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked quietly.

Buffy snapped to attention, obviously forgetting about whatever had been bugging her. Rushing over to where she had been seated, she grabbed her jacket and made her way quickly to the door.

"Buffy, who was it?" Willow asked.

"God." The slayer answered simply as she rushed out the door.

Everyone in the room exchanged looks before Dawn stood up and followed quickly after her sister.

TBC….


	14. Plain ole sick of cold things

"Buffy." Dawn rushed into the house after he sister, slamming the door shut. Buffy hadn't even seemed to acknowledge the fact that she had been following after her. The slayer had broken into a run about a block from the shop and Dawn had to struggle to keep up. "Buffy!" She screeched, chasing her up the stairs. "Buffy, who was on the phone?" The teen demanded as she stormed into her sister's room.

"It doesn't matter." Buffy muttered, grabbing some clothes and shoving them into a duffle bag.

"But you know where Spike is?" The teen asked hopefully.

"Yes, Dawn, I know where he is." Buffy said hastily.

Dawn's eyes fell to the window, where the faint glow of moonlight crept through the blinds. "Buffy, it's past sunset…"

Buffy stopped what she was doing and looked at the window. Both girl's remained silent for a moment, taking this fact in. Buffy sighed and turned back to her sister. "Do you really care?"

"No."

"Then get your things, we're leaving tonight." The slayer instructed, tossing an empty bag to her sister.

----------

"So you're staying here?" Fred asked, a bit excited by the prospect of having another vampire roomie.

Spike shrugged, flopping down on the couch. "Dunno, pet. For the time bein', at least." He winced as he pressed an icepack to his head, a rather large gash present from his second tumbled down the stairs. 

"I don't get it. I thought Angel hated you and now you're a houseguest?" Gunn shook his head, handing Fred a can of pop and opening one himself.

"He does hate me." Spike said knowingly. "That's the point."

Fred and Gunn both stared at him, confused.

Spike groaned and pulled the ice pack away from his head. He was getting rather tired of cold things. "I'm here because the Poofter won't hesitate t'kill me."

"You want him to kill you?" Fred asked, becoming more an more confused by the second.

"Yes…no!" The blonde ran his hand across his forehead. "Only if he has to..."

"Has to? Why would he need to do that?" Fred continued, her face scrunching up. "I thought you said you had a soul?"

"Did," He glanced at the clock on the wall. "til 'bout twenty minutes ago."

"Wait, you're all evil now?" Gunn asked defensively.

Spike shrugged, not looking at them. "Guess so…"

The pair exchanged nervous glances before Fred spoke up. "So are you gonna kill us?"

He looked up at her and smirked, finding her inane little questions amusing. "No. hate t'burst your bubble, but m'not gonna kill you."

"Well that's good." She said with a nod.

"Why not?" Gunn demanded. Trusting Angel had been one thing because he **had** a soul. He hadn't minded Spike too much up until two minutes ago when he had decided to share this pivotal piece of information. Now he was just your run-of-the-mill blood sucker. One that he had heard some pretty gruesome tales about.

"Haven't killed a human in two years, don't plan on startin' with you lot." He said, tossing the ice pack to Gunn as he stood. "Now where'd the Grand Poof go to now?"

"He said he needed to think things out." Fred explained. "He went for a walk."

"'Things' referring too…."

"You, and Connor." She said with a nod, her face falling. "He doesn't know about Cordelia yet. I'm not too sure he's going to take it very well."

"What happened to her, anyway?" The vampire asked, sauntering past the counter and helping himself to whatever was in the fridge.

Gunn sat down at the counter, still a little wary of the vampire. "Don't know. Last we knew she was meeting Angel. Neither of 'em came back so we thought maybe something happened, but then you show up and play go-fish. Now we have Angel but no Cordy."

"Do you think maybe she was in one of those boxes too?!" Fred asked, suddenly becoming frantic.

"Nah. That was meant as torture for a vampire." Spike assured her, tearing a packet of blood open with his teeth. "Specially designed for His Greatness."

"Do you _ever_ call him by his real name?" Gunn asked incredulously. 

"No."

----------

"You have a quarter?" Buffy asked, digging through her pockets for change.

"Here." Dawn said, handing her sister a coin.

"Thanks." She said simply before shoving it into the payphone along with the change she had scooped from her pocket. She punched in the number for the magic shop and waited for an answer. "Anya? It's me….No, tell Xander and WiIllow that me and Dawn are leaving….What? Of course we'll be back…No, just tell them, alright? I have to go, I'll call tomorrow. Bye." Shaking her head, she hung up the phone.

"So where we going?" Dawn asked, following her sister through the bus station. 

"LA."

"….that was Angel on the phone, wasn't it?" Dawn asked. Buffy looked at her, a bit surprised. Sometimes she underestimated the girl.

"…yeah."

Dawn nodded slightly, looking a bit nervous. She didn't much like the idea of going to see Angel. Not only because she didn't really like him, but due to the fact that he was Buffy's 'first love'. What if he talked her out of her feelings for Spike? Hell, what if he dusted Spike?! "I hate Angel…." The teen muttered, earning a cross look from her sister as they continued to walk. "What? He's all dark and sad all the time and he has stupid hair."

Buffy couldn't help but smirk. "You definitely hang around Spike too much."

TBC….

----------

Sorry, short chapter. Today was the last day of school! *Cheers* Finals are finally done and I'm free for the Summer…. Only problem? I can only get to a computer about four times a week . Oh well, I'll do my best to get some more chapters out over the weekend. Thanks for reading this far and please keep reviewing.

And a little sidenote: asdf, I love your reviews, they're highly entertaining ^_^


	15. Please?

Dawn readjusted herself in the uncomfortable bus seat, resting her head on her sister's shoulder. "Buffy, what if Spike's…"

"He won't be." Buffy interrupted.

Dawn remained quiet for a moment. "…but how do you know? I mean, what if something is wrong? What if having his soul and then losing it again makes him evil?"

"It won't…" the slayer said flatly.

"But Buffy…" 

"Dawn." She snapped, looking down at her sister. "He'll be fine. He will…"

The teen wanted to continue the argument, but the despaired look in her sister's eyes kept her form doing so. Buffy knew just as well as she did that he might not be okay. "Sorry…"

Buffy sighed, leaning her head back against the seat and shutting her eyes. "Just get some sleep, we'll be there in a couple hours."

----------

Fred and Gunn looked up from the couch as Angel walked back into the hotel, he hands lodged deeply into his pockets.

"Hey." Fred offered, grinning.

"Hey." He said halfheartedly, looking around the room. "Where's Spike?"

"Room 143." Gunn answered, returning his attention to the television.

"143? Isn't that the room we took the bed out of because it had that purple demon goo on it?" Angel asked, confused.

"Yeah, but it's the only room with a working TV." Fred exclaimed with a shrug. "He said he didn't mind sleeping on the floor."

"What's he doing here, anyway?" Gunn asked. "I thought you two hated each other."

"We do." Angel said, shrugging out of his coat.

"You see, that's _probably_ why I'm not understanding the whole him-staying-here concept."

"I'm not sure I understand it either…" Angel muttered, looking around absently. "So… you guys don't know where Connor is?"

"Nope. Haven't seen him since you disappeared." Gunn said with a shrug. Angel didn't reply. "We looked." He added, trying to sound a bit more caring.

"It's alright, he'll turn up." Angel said, trying more so to reassure himself. 

"We were going to turn in a missing persons report." Fred stated. "But we couldn't because Connor's only legally 9 months old in this world. It wouldn't do much good to have them looking for a baby that doesn't exist…"

"It's alright, he's strong. He can take care of himself…" Angel muttered. Gunn and Fred nodded solemnly. The vampire sighed and walked towards the stairs. "I'm going to see what kind of trouble Spike's getting into."

"He's watching TV, how much trouble could he get into?" Fred asked, giving him a strange look.

"You don't know Spike."

----------

Angel pressed his ear against the door, concentrating on the sounds he heard inside. Voices, obviously coming from the TV, but that was it. He raised his hand to knock and snorted. What the Hell? It was his hotel, he didn't need to knock. Swinging the door open, he marched inside. His dark eyes scanned the room. The television was on a table in the corner but Spike was nowhere to be seen.

"What d'you want?" Came the aggravated British voice. Angel turned to find the younger vampire laying across the large widow sill, looking out the dusty window.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked roughly.

Spike rolled his eyes and turned to face him. "Well, seein' as you're a cheapskate and don't have cable, I'm lookin' out the window. Even this is more amusing than that fuzzy shit you call TV channels. S'that okay with you, Peaches, or should I do something a little less evil?" He asked snidely, glaring. Angel returned the glare, but didn't speak. Spike snorted and rolled back over, his icy eyes staring out into the night.

"I still don't get why you want to stay here." Angel said flatly.

"Believe me, this ain't the first place I'd go if I had a choice."

"Then why?"

"Because you'd kill me if I tried anything, if I killed **anyone**…"

"Buffy would have…"

"No. I couldn't do that to her." Spike snapped, finally looked at his sire as he sat up. He scowled. Both stood there for a few moments, Spike looking cross and Angel trying to make sense of his childe. "Just get out." Spike finally growled, running his hands through his hair. 

"But I'm…"

"Please." The blonde whispered. Angel froze. Please? Since when did Spike have manners? The a grim nod he turned and left the room, leaving the sulking vampire to his own.

----------

Buffy walked along the edge of a cliff, staring out into the ocean. Waves were crashing onto the beach below her and moonlight reflected off the unsteady water. She stopped and just stared out at the water, thinking.

_"Buffy?"_

_The slayer turned quickly, coming face to face with the speaker. "Cordelia?" she looked around, confused. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I need to talk to you."_

_"Now's **reall**y not a good time." The slayer muttered, running her fingers through he hair and returning her green eyes to the water._

_"I know, but I need you to do something for me." Cordy explained, looking at the ocean briefly before turning back to Buffy. "You're going to see Angel, right?"_

_Buffy turned to face her quickly. "Yeah, why?"_

_"I need you to tell him something."_

_"Tell him something? Why can't you tell him, you work for him." Buffy asked, confused._

_"I did." She said simply. "But not anymore. Just tell him I'm fine and I'll be back, there's just some other matters I have to take care of first."_

_"Um, huh?"_

_"He'll understand." The darkhaired girl said with a smile before turning back to the ocean. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"_

_"Uh, yeah, I guess…" Buffy muttered, not really in the mood to be admiring the sea._

_"But not the best place to sleep."_

_Buffy's eyes shot back to face her, questioning, but she was gone._

"Buffy. Buffy?" Dawn shook her sister gently, trying to wake her. "Hey, we're here."

Buffy opened her eyes. Everyone was filing off the bus and out onto the sidewalk. The sun was just beginning to rise and the buildings outside had an eerie orange glow to them. 

"You okay?" Dawn asked, giving her sister a concerned look.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Weird dream, that's all." The slayer explained, shaking her head as she stood.

"Spike?" Dawn asked sympathetically, following suit and standing.

"Cordelia." Buffy explained.

"….yeah, I think that would qualify as weird." Dawn said with a nod.

----------

"You hungry?" Fred asked gently, offering Angel a glass of blood. The vampire was sitting at his desk in full brood-mode. 

"I'm fine."

"You sure? I mean, you were underwater for a pretty long time and you haven't eaten much since you got back. It's probably a good idea to eat something so that you get your strength back and…."

"Okay." He said, taking the glass from her. "I'll drink it." He gave her a halfhearted smile before sipping some of the blood.

"Good, cause you don't look very good. But I suppose being locked in a coffin underwater for four months would do that to anyone." Fred said with a nod. "I mean, if that was me, well, let's just say I wouldn't want to be the person to find the box and open it." She made a face.

"I'm glad I've already eaten breakfast." Gunn chimed as he walked into the small office. 

"Sorry…" Fred said sheepishly.

"…It's really quiet around here." Angel said matter-of-factly.

"Well, yeah, it's only the three of us, well, four if you count Jr. upstairs." Gunn said.

"No, I mean it _quiet_. Where's Cordelia?" Angel asked, looking up.

Fred and Gunn exchanged looks, neither sure what to say. Gunn cleared his throat. "Well, Cordy's…."

"Hello?!" 

All three of the office's occupants turned at the voice. Angel stood and headed quickly into the lobby. "Buffy." He greeted, smiling at the figure in the doorway. His eyes drifted to the girl next to her. "And…Dawn." Uh-oh, she wasn't supposed to drag kid sis along for the ride. "You grew." He said, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, we humans tend to do that." The teen replied.

Angel shuffled his feet nervously. He and Dawn had never really gotten along. His eyes drifted back to Buffy. "You look…good."

Buffy looked him over and gave him a small smile. "Wish I could say the same about you. What happened?"

"Long story." Angel said simply.

Buffy nodded. "Um, where is he?" She asked quietly.

Angel nodded towards the stairs. "Upstairs, room 143. But Buffy, he's not exactly in a good mood." The vampire warned.

"Neither am I." She said simply, walking towards the stairs. Dawn went to follow, but Buffy turned to face her. "Dawnie stay down here."

"But Buffy, I want…"

"Dawn, please. I won't be long, I promise." Buffy said softly. Angel gave her a strange look, she was practically **begging** her sister to let her go up alone. Dawn relented and nodded. "Thank you."

Dawn looked at the ground as her sister disappeared, not really enjoying the company she was in. Angel and two other people she didn't know, just great.

"So, how's school?" Angel finally asked, trying to break the uneasy silence.

"Fine." The teen answered simply. The uneasy silence fell again.

Gunn cleared his throat and extended his hand to the teen. "I'm Gunn, and this s Fred."

Dawn gave them a small smile. "Hi."

More silence.

"You hungry?" Gunn finally asked. "We have doughnuts."

"There's no more jelly one's though, he ate em all." Fred explained, nodding to Gunn.

Dawn smiled, following Gunn back behind the counter.. "That's alright, I don't care much for the jelly ones."

When they were out of sight, Fred turned to Angel. "She doesn't like you, does she?"

"Never has." The vampire stated.

----------

Buffy stood outside the door to room 143, staring absently at the numbers. What exactly was she supposed to say to him? She had rehearsed a thousand things she could have said to him in her head, but none of them seemed right. She closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't really care what she would say, she just wanted to see him, to make sure he was okay. Raising her hand, she knocked lightly.

"Go 'way." came the aggravated reply.

Sighing, she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Walking into the dark room, her eyes scanned for the blonde vampire. They fell upon a form lying curled up in the corner, a blanket wrapped tightly around his body, covering his face. She walked over quietly and knelt down beside him. She rested a hand gently on his shoulder, trying to draw his attention.

He growled, rolling over quickly. "Look Poofter, I said…." His hateful eyes grew wide as they locked on the Slayer. His voice caught in his throat. "…Buffy?"

"Hey." She said softly, smiling as she brushed his hair from his eyes. 

He sat up, his wide eyes still locked on her in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Finding you." She said simply, giving him a small smile. "You didn't think I'd let you disappear again, did you?"

He closed his eyes and let his head rest against the wall behind him. "Go home, Slayer."

"Not without you." She said firmly, leaning against the wall beside him. "I'm not leaving unless you're leaving with me."

"Buffy, please, I can't…" he whispered, not looking at her.

"Why?" She asked flatly.

"You know why…" He muttered.

"Spike, you know just as well as I do you loved me before you got your soul." She whispered, shaking her head.

"But you didn't trust me, I was dangerous…."

"I trust you, Spike, I do…"

"Well I don't." He snapped, glaring at her. His features softened at the shocked look she held. He shook his head. "I don't trust myself…"

"But Spike, you…"

"Buffy, what I did to you before I left… it was wrong. Hell, I never meant to hurt you, but I did. What I did…. It didn't seem wrong until I saw how I had hurt you. **That's** when I felt bad, **after** I had hurt you. I can't let that happen again."

"And it won't." Buffy assured him, resting her hand on his arm. He tensed under her touch. "Spike, please, you promised you wouldn't leave, remember?" She asked softly.

He stared into her watery eyes for a moment before turning away, unable to stand the pain he saw there. "And I promised I would never hurt you…"

"You don't have to." She whispered, taking his hand in hers. "Please, just come home…"

He turned back to her, studying her with watery eyes for what seemed like hours. Leaning foreward, he pressed his lips against her forehead, kissing her gently. Leaning back, he pulled his hand from hers. "Go home…"

TBC… 


	16. Empty Promises...

"You like cartoons?" Gunn asked, stopping when Bug Bunny appeared on the screen. He, Dawn, and Fred were seated on the couch, flipping through channels in search of something to watch. Angel was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Buffy to come down.

"Whatever." Dawn muttered, bored out of her mind. She wanted to rush up to see Spike, but knew that she'd be better off hanging out down here until her sister was through with him. Plus the fact that Angel was blocking her means of getting upstairs was a bit of a problem. She settled into the couch, doing her best to concentrate on the cartoon bunny in front of her.

"Buffy." They all turned at the sound of Angel's voice. He stood, staring at the girl descending the stairs. Dawn shot up and rushed over to the stairs.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" The teen asked, not liking the look on her sister's face. Angel remained quiet, feeling a bit uncomfortable by the whole scenario. 

The slayer just shook her head and walked past them, not speaking.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked again, watching as her sister walked outside. She watched as Buffy leaned back against the door and slid to the sidewalk, pulling her knees up to her chest. The slayer remained like that, staring absently up the sunlit street. Dawn turned to find Angel staring at her as well. Her eyes drifted to the stairs. Giving her sister one last look, she dashed up them.

"Dawn!" Angel called, taking off after the girl. She hated him with a passion and he wasn't as evil as Spike, he could just imagine how much the girl despised him. He raced up the stairs, ready to pull the girl from the room when she tried to stake Spike for upsetting Buffy.

When he reached the open door to the blonde's room and peered in, he was caught off guard. Dawn was kneeling on the ground in front of the vampire, her head tilted slightly to the side.

"Spike?" She asked softly, trying to get him to look at her. Angel remained in the doorway, watching intently. "You're staying here, aren't you?" she asked when he didn't speak.

"Go home, Bit." He said quietly.

"No." She said defensively, scowling. "No, Spike. We're not just going to go home and leave you here. You left and we came after you, you're coming back with us."

"Nibblet, I left for a reason." He said flatly.

"Yeah, you left. And you know what? You didn't say goodbye **again**." She shot back angrily.

He shook his head. "I said goodbye, Bit. Not directly, but I said goodbye…"

"In the living room…" she muttered, remembering how he had hugged her before he left. He nodded. "That doesn't count." She growled.

He looked up. "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't know you were leaving."

"I still said goodbye."

"But I didn't, you didn't give me that chance." She whined. "What if I never saw you again?"

"All the better…" He muttered.

"What? Not seeing you? Worrying whether or not you're okay?" She spat back. "God, Spike, if you're so worried about not hurting us stop this shit. Stop acting like you know what's best for us because you **don't**."

"Watch your mouth." He said sternly.

"What position are you in to tell me what the Hell to do anymore?! You left, remember!?" She shot, standing. "You're the one who wants nothing to do with us anymore. You're the one doing what's best for us by staying here. In my book that revokes your right to tell me what and what not to say, to tell me when to do my homework, to tell me **anything**."

"Nibblet…" He began, standing.

"No, Spike. You don't want to be a part of our lives? Fine. Start now, start by not giving a shit what I do, not giving a shit what I say. Start by not caring what happens to us when we leave here. We don't need you there when the world nearly comes to an end, we won't need you there when some enormous demon emerges from hell and beats the living shit out of me and Buffy. No, Spike, we don't need you there to protect us. We don't need you to show you care, because that's what you want, isn't it? To leave our lives completely, to leave us on our own…"

"Nibblet, I…"

"Don't call me that." She growled. "Not unless you plan on coming home with us…"

He clenched his eyes shut for a moment before running his hand gently down the side of her face. "Dawn, I'll always care…"

She felt tears slip from her eyes as he spoke her name. _Her name_, not some stupid little nickname he had given her. **Her name.** She shook her head. He wasn't coming home… Pulling away from his hand, she stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, dropping his hand to his side. 

She continued to stare at him for a few moments, tears continuing to streak down her face. "If you didn't want to hurt us you'd come home…" she whispered softly.

"I can't, Dawn." He said, shaking his head.

"Please?" she asked softly, her eyes pleading with him. The vampire stood there, staring at the girl in front of him as she begged him not to leave her. "Spike, this hurts a lot more than **any** physical pain you could ever inflict on me or Buffy." She added, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Please don't do this…"

Angel stood there, watching in disbelief. Now _Dawn _was begging him to go back to Sunnydale? Don't get him wrong, he **wanted** Spike out of his hotel as soon as possible, but he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous over the amount of affection the teen was showing the vampire. She had **never** been like that with him, she'd always hated him and made that fact pretty clear. And then there was Buffy. Spike had said she loved him. How could that be? Buffy would never love him, would she? But then why would she come all the way to LA to try and get him to come home? He shook his head and started to walk back down the hall, trying to clear his head. This was all a bit much for him.

----------

"You thirsty?" Angel asked, offering the shaken slayer a cup of coffee. Buffy shook her head, slinking back further into the couch. She had been sulking for most of the day.

"No thanks."

Sighing, he sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "Dawn's asleep upstairs."

"That's good, she only slept for about an hour on the bus last night."

"Yeah, she seemed pretty tired." Angel agreed. "Her and Spike, they get along pretty well, don't they?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, a lot better than me and him do most of the time."

"You fight a lot?"

She snorted. "When don't we?"

"Then why are you trying to get him to go back with you?" He asked, looking down at her. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Oh…" Right, so Spike hadn't been lying on the whole love issue.

"Yeah, 'oh'…" She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm starting to think someone up there really hates me."

"Same here." The vampire agreed, setting the coffee he had offered her on the table.

She watched him for a moment, thinking. "So…you're okay? I mean, you're not mad?"

"At you? No, but Spike's another story." He said with a small smirk.

She smiled slightly, "Just do me a favor and refrain from dusting him."

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises." He replied.

"That's alright, I'd prefer you didn't. Promises don't seem to have much meaning to anyone anymore…" she said glumly.

"Buffy?"

The slayer turned her head to the stairs. Dawn was walking towards them. "I thought you were in bed."

The teen shrugged. "Couldn't sleep." Buffy nodded. "Do you care if I go for a walk?"

Buffy looked out the door where the sun was just beginning to set. "Dawn, it's getting late."

"I'll be careful. Please? I won't go far." The teen argued, wanting to get out of the stuffy hotel.

Buffy stared at her for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Don't be gone too long."

Dawn gave her a small smile. "I won't."

Angel watched as the teen disappeared before turning back to Buffy. "You're letting her go out by herself? Buffy, this might not be the Hellmouth but there are still some pretty nasty things out there at night."

"She'll be alright, she can take care of herself."

"You mean she…"

"Fights? Yeah. She's pretty strong too. She can give me a run for my money if I'm having an off day." Buffy said.

Angel shook his head. "Never would have pictured her fighting demons. She was always just your little sister, hiding while you fought away the monsters."

"That's what everyone thought." Buffy agreed. "I think Spike's still a little wary about the idea though. The second night he was back I offered to let Dawn go patrolling by herself. It was pretty quiet around town so I figured she'd be okay. Spike threw a fit and ended up going with her to make sure she was okay."

"Spike's the last person I would imagine Dawn getting along with, they don't have much in common."

Buffy shrugged, "Yeah, I guess they're a bit different, but they do have at least one thing in common." He looked at her questioningly. "They both **really** don't like you."

----------

Dawn shuffled along, listening to the sound of her footsteps echoing off the cold buildings. She shivered. She had found one vampire already and had made quick work of him, dusting him without much of a scuffle. She had wandered within a few blocks of the hotel, and having found nothing else, she had gone further into the city.

She froze when she heard a scraping noise behind her. Turning slowly, she came face to face with a hideous blue creature. It snarled, it's massive jaws dripping saliva. Where had he come from? It swung at her with a massive claw, narrowly missing her face as she ducked down. She hopped backwards, putting some distance between her and the beast. It came at her again, snapping it's jaws. Swinging her leg around, she connected her foot with it's face. It staggered a bit, but came right back at her with even more force than before, knocking her to the ground with a sweep of it's tail.

Uh-oh.

She rolled to the side, just avoiding it's claws as it brought them down to the ground. She jumped to her feet and readied herself to swing at it again, but something grabbed the creature from behind, pressing a large blade into it's throat. It growled and reached up, grabbing it's attacker and pulling them over it's shoulders. Dawn grimaced as it slammed the boy to the ground. Shaking it off, she used the distraction to her advantage and kicked the creature in the face again. It reared to the side, giving her a chance to pull the boy from the ground.

"Get out of here." He ordered, pulling away from her as he stood.

"What? No way." She shot back.

"Fine, then stay out of the way." He ordered, pulling two more blades out. Dawn watched curiously as this kid, who was roughly around her age, started swinging at the demon with the blades. He landed a few blows, but eventually both of his weapons were knocked away. He jumped to the side, avoiding a kick from the beast. Dawn chose that moment to jump in, grabbing the creature's arm and snapping it behind it's back before it could swing at the kid. It roared in pain before throwing her to the ground.

----------

"You find her?" Angel asked, looking up as Buffy walked back in through the front door.

The slayer shook her head. "No..."

"I'm sure she's okay, she hasn't been gone that long." He said, trying to reassure her.

"Angel, it's been three hours." She said flatly.

"Okay, so maybe she's been gone awhile, but I'm sure she's okay." He stood, grabbing his jacket. "Come on, I'll help you look." Buffy nodded, but her eyes drifted to the stairs. Angel sighed before turning around and heading upstairs. "I'll get him..."

TBC…


	17. The third degree

"Why the bloody hell would you let her go out by herself anyway? You know the girl's bound to run into trouble." Spike chided as he walked quickly ahead of them.  He wasn't very happy about the fact that Buffy would let Dawn wander around LA on her own.

"It's not like you were there to tell me not to let her go." Buffy shot back, glaring at him. "If I'm right you were upstairs _brooding_."

"I was **not** brooding." He said defensively, giving Angel a quick glare.

"Then what do you call it, Spike? Sulking, pouting, moping?" She spat, following the blonde vampire up the street at a quick pace. Angel walked behind them, not wanting to get in the middle of this. They looked about ready to scratch each other's eyes out.

"You know what Slayer? Who cares what I was doing! The point is, **you** used bad judgment and now the Nibblet's gone. Do you think **maybe** we could save the bickering for later when we got her tucked away safe in bed or do you _really_ wanna do this right now?" He growled. He had to fight back the urge to apologize when a pained look crossed her face. "Let's just find your kid sis and go home, alright?" He asked a bit more gently.

"That would be a plan… if you were coming home." She said coldly before pushing past him. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment before going after her.

"Buffy, I didn't mean…"

"Mean what? To go **home**? No, you meant to go back to Angel's hotel so you could resume your brooding or whatever you want to call it. And **don't** think what you're trying to do is going to work."

He looked confused. "What exactly am I trying to do?"

"You're trying to make me hate you so I let you stay here."

"I have to _try_ t'make you hate me now? Bloody hell slayer, make up your mind!"

----------

"Get down!!" Dawn screeched as she tackled the boy, slamming them both into the ground as the demon swung again. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her up and away from the demon quickly.

"Come on, it's too strong!!" He ordered, dragging her behind him as he began to run. He gave her a strange look when she gained her footing and managed to keep up with him as they ran. When she saw the look he was giving her she smirked. They rounded the corner of the alley and began to dash up the main street, the demon hot on their trail.

She continued to smirk as they ran. "What, you didn't think…" She let out startled yelp as the demon lunged, grabbing her by the ankle and sending her rolling across the pavement. Her eyes went wide as it pinned her to the ground and prepared to strike her with a huge claw. She clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the blow.

It never came.

The demon was shoved brutally away from her. She looked up in time to see Spike pounding his fists roughly into the demon's face. It roared and kicked him away harshly. He landed with a rough thud at her feet as the boy pulled her up from the ground once more. The vampire grinned before hopping back to his feet. "'ey Bit."

Dawn watched as he took to pummeling the demon again, taking quite a few blows himself. She went to help him, but as she rushed forward she became aware of a sharp pain in her ankle. She winced, nearly tripping.

"Spike, catch!"

The vampire reached up, grabbing the blade Buffy had thrown to him effortlessly. In one swift movement, he impaled the demon. It howled in pain as he twisted it and then pulled it back out. Buffy was on it's back in a second and twisted it's head roughly, snapping it's neck. The creature slumped to the ground, motionless.

"Dawn." Spike rushed over to the girl, who was supporting her weight on some kid's shoulder. His eyes fell to her ankle, where a rather large and bloody gash was present.

"God, are you alright?" Buffy asked, looking her sister over for any other injuries.

"I'll be fine." Dawn assured her sister.

"Come on, let's go get you fixed up." Spike said, shoving the blade he was holding into Angel's arms. "By the way, thanks for all your help Poofter, gland to see Your Righteousness can put up such a good fight." He grumbled sarcastically, scooping Dawn into his arms.

"Hey, I can still walk you know!" The teen protested, not liking the prospect of being carried.

"Shut your mouth. You're not walking on that, you'll just make it hurt worse." He said, his eyes falling back on Angel. "What in God's name are you staring at?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow. Angel was staring at the boy, not moving.

"Um, Angel? Are you okay?" Buffy asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Connor…" The vampire muttered, not dropping his gaze from the boy. Connor shifted nervously, not sure what to do. His father was **supposed** to be in the middle of the Pacific, not standing two feet in front of him.

Spike blinked. Once. Twice. "Wait a minute! This is your kid?! How long have you had 'im? He's all….big." He exclaimed, looking back and forth between the two. He had been expecting a little baby, not some teenager. 

"Your…kid?" Buffy asked, looking at him in disbelief. "Since when do you have a kid?!"

----------

Connor sat next to Dawn on the couch, watching the office his father had disappeared into nervously. He had tried to make a run for it earlier, but Angel and Buffy had caught up with him easily enough. After a quick chase and some coaxing from Dawn, he found himself once again perched in the lobby of his father's hotel. 

"Here." Both teens looked up as Spike sauntered up behind them, offering Dawn some aspirin and a glass of water.

"Thanks." She muttered, wanted more than anything to rid herself of the throbbing pain in her ankle. She downed the medication quickly and gulped down the water. 

Connor looked up to find Spike staring at him, a contemplative look on his face. "You're a vampire…" He said, giving the blonde a skeptical look.

"Yeah, and you're dad's a vampire, now what does that make you?" Spike asked, quirking his head to the side.

"I'm human." Connor answered, glaring. 

"How old are you, anyway? Fifteen, sixteen?" Spike asked, taking a seat on the other side of Dawn.

"Sixteen." He answered, taking his eyes away from the vampire.

"Cool. Same as me." Dawn said with a smile.

"Sixteen? Then why the Hell haven't I seen you before? Like when Angel went all cuckoo and me 'n the Slayer had t'stop him from destroyin' the world, where were you then?"

"I grew up in Quortoth." Connor answered flatly.

"Quor-what?" Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Quortoth, it's a dark hell demension. I grew up there and when I came back to this world only a few months had passed." He said almost shamefully.

Spike smirked devilishly. "Don't worry 'bout it, Nibblet here's a two year old ball of energy made by some crazy monks." He grinned and winked at the girl.

"Gee, thanks Spike." She said sarcastically, smirking as she punched him in the arm.

"Don't mention it."

Buffy and Angel chose that moment to walk out of the office, Buffy looking rather pissed off. Connor stood up quickly, looking back and forth between the pair. Angel stopped in front of the boy, giving him a small smile. "I'm glad you're still here. I guess we need to talk…."

"Yeah, I guess…."

"About what?" Dawn asked curiously.

"I tried to kill him." Connor answered simply, nodding to Angel.

"Who here hasn't?" Spike asked in all seriousness. Dawn sheepishly raised her hand. Spike smirked at her. "Okay then, who here hasn't **thought** about killing him?" Dawn's hand went down. He nodded and smiled at Connor. "See? Hatred for the Poof is mutual."

"Spike, shuttup." Buffy commanded.

"Like you have room t'talk. You're the only one here who actually _managed_ t'kill 'im. Sent him to a nice hell demesion for quite awhile if I remember correctly." Spike continued, a smug smile on his face.

"Can we **not** talk about killing me right now?" Angel asked, giving everyone an exasperated look. 

"Aw, s'matter Peaches? 'fraid your hair'll get messed up if we all decide t'jump ya?" 

Angel scowled. Dawn snickered.

"Spike, enough." Buffy said sternly, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she tried to look cross with him. She couldn't help it, watching Angel get all huffy over his hair was priceless.

"Oh this is too bloody good. Even the Slayer's laughin' at you now." Spike exclaimed with a grin.

"Am not." Buffy said, trying with all her might to keep a straight face. Connor couldn't help but smile. Everyone one around him was either laughing or smiling, well, all except for his father, who just looked a bit aggravated. Buffy shook her head and gave Spike a small glare. "Come on Dawn, bed time." She instructed, helping her sister to her feet. Dawn didn't protest, she'd gotten only a few hours of sleep in the past few days.

Spike watched as Buffy helped her sister up the stairs. He then turned back to Angel, still grinning. "So, Poofter, what'd you do t'the kid t'make 'im wanna kill your sorry arse?"

Angel went to speak, but Connor cut him off. "Nothing."

Angel looked confused. "But I thought…"

"Justine said…Justine told me you killed my father, that's why I came after you. Eventually the guilt got to her and she told me the truth. She killed him…." Connor explained, his eyes falling to the floor. 

"Wait, your father? I thought Peaches was your dad?" Spike asked, looking confused.

"I am, he's talking about Holtz." Angel explained.

"That psychotic demon hunter?"

"He wasn't psychotic." Connor snapped.

"Connor, ignore him." Angel said, glaring at Spike. The blonde vampire shrugged and settled back into the couch to watch the exchange. Angel continued to glare. "Don't you have somewhere else you need to be?"

"No."

"…." Angel growled.

"Take it easy, Ponce, I'm leavin'." Spike said with a grin as he stood and made his way towards the stairs. "'night Jr." He said, casting Connor a small wave over his shoulder.

Connor watched curiously as the other vampire disappeared. "Who is he?" He asked, turning back to Angel.

"He's your, um, uncle…or nephew, depending on how you look at it." Angel answered, scratching his head.

"Does he have a soul as well?"

"He did."

"So he's evil, just like the others?"

Angel stared up the steps for a moment, thinking about this. "No, I think he's just under the delusion that he's still evil."

----------

Spike sat in the corner of his room, his legs drawn up to his chest and his blanket draped over his shoulders. His eyes were locked on the television, where a rather fuzzy weather forecast was displayed. He could barely make out the words over the static. Groaning, he flicked the machine off. 

"Spike?"

He turned as Dawn poked her head through the door, knocking lightly. "S'matter Bit?" She shrugged. He sighed. "It's late, you should be in bed."

"I couldn't sleep and I figured you'd be up." 

"What gave you that idea?"

"You never sleep after you and Buffy have a fight." She said knowingly, limping over and taking a seat next to him. "And I'd say this all qualifies as a pretty big fight."

"Yeah, well I never meant for it t'be a fight." He said, running his hand over the back of his neck. "I just wanted t'do what was best for you two."

"And that was what? Leaving?" She asked softly.

He shrugged, resting his elbows on his knees. "Can't hurt you if I'm not there."

"But it hurts not **having** you there." Dawn said simply.

He gave her a small smile. "And it hurts not being there with you, but I can't risk hurting you or your sis again."

"Spike, do you remember that promise you made to me and Buffy just before she died?"

He nodded. "I promised t'protect you 'til the end of the world."

"How can you do that from here?" She asked softly, not wanting to fight with him again.

"Easy, I'm protectin' you from me."

"Spike, if it ever came to that, **_I_** could protect myself from you. But I need you there to protect me from everything else. I mean, what if you hadn't been there tonight? That demon would have killed me and Connor both. What if something like that happens in Sunnydale and Buffy doesn't get there in time?"

His eyes fell to the floor and he didn't answer. After a moment, he sighed. "Go get some sleep, Bit."

"Can I stay in here?"

His eyes darted to hers. "Nibblet, I don't think…"

"Please?" she asked quietly, staring at his with wide eyes.

He sighed. "Come on." He lifted the blanket and covered the girl as she curled up next to him, her head resting on his arm. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "'night, Lil' Bit."

----------

Buffy gave Connor a small smile as she walked into the lobby. The boy was sitting on the couch, munching on what appeared to be a Ho-Ho. "Hey, you seen Dawn?"

He shook his head. "No."

"You sure? She wasn't in her room…" Buffy said, a little worried.

Connor shrugged. "I've been down here all night, she didn't come down at all."

"You didn't sleep at all?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No. Me and dad we're talking."

She smiled slightly. "Where's he at?"

"In his office with Fred and Gunn. They just got here a little bit ago." He explained.

Buffy nodded. " kay, if he asks tell him I'm upstairs looking for Dawn. She's probably snooping around."

"Want me to help you look?" He offered, finishing off his oh-so-nutritious breakfast and standing.

"Why not? It's something to do, right?" She said, giving him a smile as they began to walk towards the stairs.

He nodded. "So what are you, anyway? I mean, you're human, right?" He asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm human."

"But you're strong. Last night with that demon…"

"I'm the Slayer." She said simply. "Well, one of them. I kinda screwed the whole thing up when I died and now there's more than one of us."

"You died?" He asked curiously, glancing up and down the hall for any signs of the other teen.

"More than once." She said with a grin, pushing one of the doors open and glancing about the room.

"What's it like, dying?" He asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well, the first couple times it was just, I dunno, over. One minute I was there and the next I wasn't. But the last time…" She looked to the ground, shaking her head. "The last time I went to Heaven, or something like it at least. All I know was I was happy, safe."

"But now you're here again." He said, giving her a grim look. "It's like being sent to hell, isn't it?"

"Yeah, something like that…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I grew up in a Hell demension." He said with a shrug.

She laughed. "It helps a little bit. Thanks."

He smiled, looking down the hall. He pointed. "There's a door open down there."

The pair walked down the hall towards the room. It was Spike's. The Slayer pushed the door fully open quietly, peering in. She smiled. Dawn was curled up next to the vampire, asleep. He was asleep as well, his head resting against the wall behind them

"They're friends?" Connor asked quietly as Buffy gently shut the door.

"Yeah." She said, leading him back down the hall and towards the stairs.

"He's not a normal vampire, is he? I mean, my father has a soul and that's why he helps people, but he doesn't."

"No, Spike's anything but normal. He's probably the weirdest person I've ever met." She agreed, walking back down to the lobby.

"Why does he help you?" Connor asked curiously, not sure why his 'Uncle' would be helping this girl fight the good fight if he was evil.

"He loves me." She answered simply.

He remained quiet for a moment, thinking about this. "Do you love him?"

She smiled. "That's why I'm here. And that's why I'm not going anywhere until he comes with me."

TBC…..


	18. "You ate a salad once."

Buffy looked up as Spike walked into the lobby. She gave him a small smile from behind the counter where her and Angel were seated. "Morning."

He glanced at the clock and smirked as he sat down on the opposite side of the counter. "It's lunchtime."

"Good point." She said with a nod.

"What can I say? Sometimes my intelligence scares even me."

"Or lack there of." Angel added.

Spike glared at him for a moment before brushing it off and returning his eyes to Buffy. "So where'd Nibblet get to?"

"Fred and Gunn took her and Connor to get some food. Seems all that they have around here is some pig's blood and a hefty supply of ho-ho's." She said, holding up a wrapper from one of the chocolatey deserts.

"Nice nutritious breakfast, eh Slayer?" He questioned with a smirk.

"Of course. I wouldn't eat anything unhealthy, now would I?"

"You know, I think I saw you eat a salad once…no wait, that was just me watching some demon kicking your face into the grass."

"He was smashing my face into the ground so you watched? Ah yes, my night in shining armor." She said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Personally, I can't picture Spike in **anything** shiny." Angel chimed.

"'ey, speaking of shiny, do you have any idea where Chase is at?" Spike asked, looking at Angel.

"Cordy? What do you mean where is she? She's probably at home…"

"Hold on, 'shiny' made you think of Cordelia?" Buffy asked, confused.

Spike shrugged. "Fred 'n Gunn said she can do some weird glow-bug thing now. Well, **could**, 'fore she disappeared." 

"Disappeared?" Angel asked, sitting up a bit.

Spike turned to look at Angel. Bugger, his little friends hadn't told him yet. "Um…no."

"Wait, Cordelia's gone?" Buffy asked, suddenly remembering her dream. She had neglected to tell Angel about that, hadn't she?

"You know, you're probably right Peaches. She's probably tucked away safe and sound at home, nothing to fret about. So why don't we all…"

"Spike." Angel growled. Spike had never been very good at lying to him.

"Fine." He said defeatedly. "Your little cheerleader-gone-demon's missing, alright? Your little crack team of investigators told me she disappeared the same night you did. I figured you two went off on some hot, steamy affair but them your arse turns up in the bloody ocean."

Buffy snickered. "Ha, Angel and Cordelia? Come on Spike, get real…" She continued to laugh until she saw the look on Angel's face. She stopped laughing. "…oh."

"s'not like me n' you were a match made in heaven either." Spike said with a smirk. "Well, 'least not me, anyway…"

"Are." She said simply.

"What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You said it wasn't like we **were** a match made in heaven, I said it's not like we **are**."

The blonde vampire sighed. "Buffy, we aren't…"

"Spike, you fought me for this for so long and now that you have it you're gonna say 'no'? It's me and you, Spike, and that's why I'm not leaving unless you're coming with me…" The slayer whispered. They sat there for a moment, neither speaking.

"Can we please get back to the fact that Cordelia's missing?" Angel huffed, his eyes darting back and forth between the two.

Buffy gave Spike a small smile before turning back to Angel. "She's not missing. She's fine, I know…"

----------

"Hey." Dawn said with a smile as she walked through the door, followed closely by Connor, Fred, and Gunn. 

"Hey 'Bit." Spike said from his seat on the couch. "How's your foot?"

"Better, it doesn't hurt as much now." She said, flopping down next to him.

"That's good."

"Where's Buffy at?"

Spike nodded towards Angel's office. "In there with the Poof."

Dawn's face scrunched up. "What for?"

Spike's eyes fell to Gunn and Fred. "They're talking about your missing-in-action seer. I'd really like to thank you lot for tellin' him bout it."

"He knows about Cordelia?" Fred asked softly.

"Does now, only because I have a big mouth."

"So why's he talking to Buffy?" Connor asked, sipping some pop through a straw.

"She said something about a dream." He said with a shrug, returning his eyes to the television show he had been watching.

"A dream?" Gunn asked, not quiet understanding.

"Yeah, Buffy has these weird prophetic dreams." Dawn explained. "She said she had a dream about Cordy on the bus, but she didn't tell me what it was about. She just said it was weird."

"Any dream with Cordelia in it would be weird." Spike said matter-of-factly.

"Wait, if Buffy's dreams are prophetic, does that mean she knows where Cordelia's at?" Fred asked hopefully.

"Doubt it. Hell, she didn't even really get the fact that Chase was missing 'til I said something." Spike said with a shrug.

"Oh…" Fred mumbled, her face falling.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Look, evidently it wasn't anything major if she's just now bringing it up. I'm sure your little friend is just peachy and whatnot."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Gunn said, acknowledging Spike's attitude.

"I don't have a bed."

"Well now I just sound dumb, don't I?"

"Yup." Spike said with a nod.

"You and Buffy fighting again?" Dawn asked knowingly.

"Not fighting, per say, more like disagreeing." 

"Disagreeing on what?"

"Us. Well, on whether or not there is an 'us'. We've kind of switched sides on the whole issue."

"So, what, you like broke up with her?" Dawn asked quickly.

"I think leaving Sunnydale qualifies as breaking up." He said flatly.

"No it doesn't." the teen said simply.

"Does in my book." Spike replied. Fred and Gunn exchanged looks, not really wanting to be part of this conversation. They slipped away into the hall, muttering some excuse about needing to organize weapons.

"But why?" Spike and Dawn both looked up to find Connor looking at them questioningly. "Buffy told me that you loved her and that she loved you. Why would you want to leave her?" The boy asked.

"Because I'm a vampire."

He shrugged. "Yes, but you're different from the other vampires I've met…um, killed. My father has a soul and that's why he helps people, but you seem to have a genuine concern even without one. I've never seen that characteristic in any demon I've encountered."

"Yup, you're definitely the Poof's kid, what with all the nancy boy speeches and what not."

"Spike, Connor's right. You're different." Dawn agreed. "I mean, it's not like I went out and made friends with everyone of my sister's arch enemies, right? Hey, I didn't even make friends with Angel when they were dating. You're the only vampire I've ever really trusted, Spike, soul or not."

"Your sister dated my father?" Connor asked, looking a bit surprised.

"Let's not go there." Spike said before Dawn could answer. "It's a long story that no one feels like hearin' right now."

Connor shrugged. "Just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat." The vampire muttered, earning a confused look from the boy. "Never mind. Now come on, let's go find something to kill, I'm bored."

"Spike, it's the middle of the day." Dawn pointed out.

"LA has some pretty big sewers. 'sides, Passions is a rerun."

TBC…

----------

A/N: Woohoo! Short and pointless chapter. It'll be a few days fore I get the next one up, so hopefully this'll hold you over till then. Thanks for reading and please keep reviewing!!


	19. A Slayer...

"Buffy?" Dawn quipped, poking her head into Angel's office. "Me and Connor are gonna go for a walk with Spike, okay?"

"Dawn, it's the middle of the day." Buffy pointed out. "Taking a walk with a pile of dust sounds splendid."

"We're taking the sewers." She said informatively.

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked to Angel. "You want him to go?"

"Not really, but I'm not going to say no. We're sort of working on this whole 'trust' issue. I don't want him to think I'm trying to control him." Angel shrugged.

Buffy sighed. "Fine, but stay with Spike, you don't need to be wandering around."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Got it, so basically you're saying 'no fun'?"

"Basically."

Dawn smirked and shook her head before walking out of the room.

----------

"Well, granted LA does have some pretty big sewers, m'afraid they're lacking in the demon department." Spike stated, shuffling along in the shallow water.

"Can't even pick up anything to track one." Connor muttered.

"Eww, you can track things? Like a dog?" Dawn asked.

"Like a vampire." Spike chimed. "Kid's got daddy's skills, only he's mortal."

"So you're like a living vampire?" Dawn asked, looking at the boy in question.

"I don't drink blood." He said quickly. "But I guess I'm strong…"

"No guessing there, you put on quite a show with that demon last night." Dawn said with a grin.

He shrugged. "I didn't kill it…"

"Me neither. But you **did** kick some major ass."

"Dawn, language." Spike said warningly. 

"Sorry."

"You better be." He sighed and looked up as they passed under a sewer grate. "Here." He halted and dug into his pocket, producing a few bills. "Go get yourselves some ice cream or something, there's nothin' for you t'do down here."

"But Buffy said we had to stay with you." Dawn pointed out.

"Since when do you listen to everything your sis says?" He asked with a smirk. "'sides, it's three in the afternoon, you're not gonna get jumped by some demon in the middle of the city. Go get your ice cream and meet me back at the parking garage near the hotel in an hour. Buffy'll never know you left my side."

"You sure?" Dawn asked, feeling a bit guilty for leaving him.

"Positive. Now get goin'."

She grinned. "Thanks, Spike." The blonde vampire watched as the two teens climbed up the rusty ladder and hefted themselves to the street above. "You want us to bring you anything?" Dawn called back down, putting the cover back in place.

"Nah…well, unless they have some really strong whisky and they'll sell it t'ya."

"I'll check." Dawn said with a grin, rolling her eyes. "See you later."

"Bye Bit."

----------

"So you've never had rock road ice cream?" Dawn asked with a smirk.

Connor shook his head. "No."

"Man, I would have seriously gone crazy without ice cream." Dawn said, licking the large strawberry cone she held.

He shrugged. "It wasn't that bad, I mean, I didn't even know it existed until I got here."

"And now you're a junk food junkie, right?" She asked, smirking.

He grinned. "Yeah."

"Okay, we have like a half hour to do whatever. Where to?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know."

"Oh come on, what do you usually do during the day?"

"Look for demons."

Dawn stared at him for a moment. "That's a night time job, buddy. Well, unless it's something really serious and end-of-the-world envoking, then it's okay to look for demons during the day. But other than that, day time is when you get to pretend to be normal."

"You seem normal."

"Ha, me? Hardly. Remember what Spike said? I'm a two year old ball of mystical, universe destroying energy turned human." She looked to find him giving her a confused look. "It's a long story."

"That's all everyone around here seems to have."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone keeps saying 'It's a long story'. I know who people are now, but I don't know why they are who they are. I don't know why Gunn fight's demons, I don't know how Cordelia became a demon, I don't know anything about what happened between your sister and my father, I don't know why Spike…."

"Okay, I'm getting the idea." Dawn said with a smirk, shaking her head. "They're all probably some pretty interesting stories, too. Well, okay, which do you wanna hear about, me being The Key or about Buffy and your dad?"

Connor grinned.

----------

"Right then, if you wanna fight then get your arse out here and get it over with." Spike called down the empty tunnel, stopping. He had picked up on someone fallowing him through the tunnels, but they had yet to show themselves. "Hello? I'm bored, get out here already."

"I don't want to fight you." Came a  female voice from behind him.

Spike spun around. The footsteps had come from the direction he was facing, so how had she gotten behind him? "Well that's a shame, innit? What do you want then, t'have a tea party?"

"I want your help." Came the reply, once again from behind him.

He spun around once more. "Would you stop doing that!"

"Will you help me?"

"Um, usually you inform someone about what you need help with _before_ you ask them t'help." He said, getting rather annoyed.

"I'm going to kill her."

"Kill her? Who?" Spike asked, confused.

"Will you help me?"

"Right, I'm gonna need a _bit_ more information other than 'I'm going to kill her'."

The girl giggled. "Come on, William, a tea party sounds swell right about now."

He spun around once more, coming face-to-face with a girl, probably only a little bit older than Dawn. "What the…"

"Let's play." She said sweetly before punching him the face, knocking him to the ground. Kneeling down beside him, she grinned. "It's an honor to finally meet you, William." With that she stood, kicking him roughly in the head and sending him into unconsciousness.

----------

"Ugh, I'm going to kill him, he was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." Dawn groaned.

"Maybe he ran into a demon." Connor said with a shrug.

Dawn stared at him. "Thanks for making me feel better about the whole Spike-being-late-issue, and is that _all_ you think about? Demons?"

"I guess. I lived in a Hell dimension, all I knew were demons..."

"Sorry…" she muttered.

"It's okay. I didn't mean to make you worry, I'm sure he's fine."

Dawn sighed. "I hope so…"

"Should we go look for him or wait?" Connor asked, looking over at her.

"We'll give him ten more minutes, if he's not back we'll get Buffy. It takes a lot to take Spike down and if something got him then we're not going to be able to take it alone, we'll need her help… and your dad's, if he'll help."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Because him and Spike have this mutual hatred for each other spanning over quite a few lifetimes." She said, rolling her eyes.

"So Spike hates him because he has a soul."

"Partially, but personally I think Spike hates him more **without** his soul."

"Makes sense, I mean, he would be evil without it. It makes sense to hate him."

"Not with Spike. Spike likes evil things, well, he did. He didn't like him because he had this whole 'I'm the world's most bad-ass vamp, fear me!' motif. That was kinda Spike's gig and Angel tried to take it away." Dawn said with a smirk

"So he likes him because he has a soul?"

"Nah. He used to hate him either way, but I'm not too sure he does now. I think he'll _tolerate_ him, but I don't ever think he'll actually _like_ him."

----------

"Bloody hell…" Spike muttered, a sharp jolt of pain shooting through his head. His lip was split and he could taste the blood in his mouth. He went to wipe it away, only to find that his hands were bound together above his head. "Well that's just peachy…" He muttered, opening his eyes. He was seated against a wall in what appeared to be an old factory, his hand bound to a large pipe in the wall above his head.

"You're awake." Came a cheery voice from the other end of the room.

"Who the hell are you?" Spike asked impatiently, not really liking his predicament.

"Well, some books refer to me as Matticks, others as Martyef, but my friends just call me Matty. Well, they would, if I had friends." She said with a grin, walking out of the shadows. He had been right, the girl appeared to be only around seventeen or eighteen. She was about Buffy's size with raven black hair falling down her back. She wore a tight fitting pair of leather pants, a skimpy red shirt, and a knee-length leather jacket. 

"Matticks…. Why do I know that name?"

"Ahh, so you've heard of me." She said with a grin, walking over to where he was seated. She knelt down, swinging her legs on either side of him and sitting in his lap. She trailed her hand down the side of his face, grinning. "You're a pretty little thing, you know that?"

"And I'd be even prettier if you hadn't kicked me in the face, now get off." He growled, trying to throw her from him. She grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and slammed him back against the wall, grinning all the while.

"Calm down, William, I don't want to hurt you."

"A bit late for that." He said flatly.

"Mmm, that was only to get your cooperation." She said, wiping away some of the blood from his mouth.

"Right, good way to gain trust, go around kicking people in the head." He spat as she stood back up. "What are you?"

"M'not human." She said softly.

"Well I got that when you bloody kicked my face in." He shot.

"I'm a Slayer." She said, her back to him.

He stared at her for a moment, stunned. "You can't be a Slayer, Buffy's not…"

"Not Buffy." She said, spinning back to face him. "And I'm not **that** kind of Slayer."

"Faith… she's dead." He said, looking back up at her questioningly. 

She nodded. "Aye, you're quick."

"Matticks…" He repeated her name, trying to remember where he had heard it. Then it hit him. "No way, you're a bloody myth."

"So I'm told." She said, sitting down Indian-style in front of him.

"That's impossible, Matticks was just some stupid story started by those bloody watchers as an excuse for dead Slayers. They blamed her for killing the girls so they wouldn't look like they had failed."

"Hmm, you know your demons, I'm impressed."

"You're mad." He said simply.

"No, I'm Matty, The Slayer…."

"…of Slayers." He finished, glaring at her.

She grinned widely. "Yes, The Slayer of Slayers. So, are you going to help me?"

"Why would I help you?" He growled, trying to loose his hands.

"Well, seeing as you have killed two slayers yourself I thought you might enjoy coming along for the ride." She said with a shrug.

"I don't play that game anymore."

"Is that so? So you're going to tell me that you don't yearn to taste the blood of another Slayer, to feel that power coursing through you once more?" She whispered, crawling towards him. "Are you going to tell me you don't want to kill that pretty little thing and drink her for all she's worth?"

"You touch her and I'll kill you."

She frowned. "And I thought you'd be happy to find I was real. I guess it's true what they're saying then. You, William the Bloody, have fallen head over heals for the Slayer." Her grin returned. "The same Slayer I'm gonna kill next."

"I'm gonna…." He began menacingly, but was silenced as she clasped her hand over his mouth.

"Shhhh. You know what you're going to do, William?" She asked innocently, crawling into his lap once more. "You're going to sit here, and when you're little girl comes to save you, you're going to watch as I shred her to pieces." He went to protest again, but she backhanded him. His head snapped to the side. He turned back towards her, glaring, but said nothing. She smiled innocently. "Now, seeing as she's the oldest living Slayer in history, my guess is she's going to be quite fun to fight. I mean, sure, Faith was fun, seeing as I had to break into the prison to get to her, but she wasn't too much of a challenge. I guess prison food doesn't do too much for your health."

"She's going to kill you…" He growled.

She patted him on the cheek and stood. "Yes, that's what they all say before they die. 'I'm going to kill you'. But guess what, I'm still standing, aren't I? And I have the deaths of twelve slayers under my belt. Your little Buffy will be lucky thirteen." She walked over to a small table where she had a few candles burning. Turning back to face him, she grinned, holding up a dagger and a small bottle of holy water. "Now what do you say we have some fun until she gets here, aye?"

TBC…

----------

A/N: Yay! Now we sort of have a plot…. It's only gonna last a few chapters though. :P I'm not gonna get into Matty much, she was just thrown in so our heroes have someone to fight, lol. Anyways, thanks for reading and keep the reviews coming!!


	20. How could you lose *him*?

"Um, Buffy?" Dawn asked sheepishly, walking into Angel's office with her hands behind her back. Connor followed behind her, his eyes on the ground

"Dawn, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Buffy asked, standing.

"I'm fine." Dawn assured her. Buffy's eyes shot to Connor. "We're both fine." Dawn said quickly, drawing Buffy's gaze back to her.

Buffy stared at her for a moment. "Where's Spike?"

"Well, we sort of….lost him." Dawn said sheepishly.

"Lost him? How can you lose Spike, he's too loud to lose." Buffy said, staring at her sister.

"We didn't exactly lose him, we went to get some ice cream and we were supposed to meet him back here but he never showed up." She explained.

"I thought I told you to stay with him."

"It was his idea." Dawn said quickly. "Anyway, he was supposed to meet us in the parking garage a half hour ago and he never showed. Buffy, Spike doesn't just flake like that, I think something happened."

"Did you guys see anything when you were in the sewers?" Angel asked, walking over to the group.

Connor shook his head. "Nothing."

"That's why he told us to go do something." Dawn added. "You don't think he would of, you know, left, do you?"

Buffy thought about this for a moment before shaking her head. "No. Now come on, I want you to take me to where you saw him last."

"Maybe we should talk to Fred and Gunn, they might know if there are any new demons in the area." Angel suggested. "And if they haven't I'm sure we could find some leads pretty quick." 

"Uh, right. Connor, you know where Spike was last. Go with your dad and if they can't find anything take him there, alright?" Buffy said. Connor nodded. "Good. Dawn, you're with me."

Dawn nodded. "Come on…"

----------

"Are you hungry?" Matty asked casually, licking a bit of blood from her fingers. Her eyes fell to Spike when he didn't answer. "Aww, now you're not talking to me? Pity, I was just **loving** the accent."

"Bugger off, wench…" He muttered, wincing. His shirt was unbuttoned, his exposed skin covered in deep gashed and burns.

"Tsk, tsk William, that's not very nice. What did I ever do to you?" She asked sweetly.

"How 'bout kidnapping me, tying me up, threatening to kill the woman I love, and torturing me?" he asked venomously.

"Hmm, that would be reason enough for some people, I suppose." She said with a shrug, walking back over to him. "Still, there's no need to call names."

"Really? Cause I think there's plenty reason t'call names."

"You know, you're not very pretty when you're covered in blood." She said simply, ignoring him. She ran her fingers over one of the gashes in chest. He winced. "Aww, am I hurting you, William?"

"Just a bit." He ground out. "And would you stop calling me that?"

She giggled. "It's your name isn't it?" Sighing, she shook her head. "I guess you'd prefer that horrendous nickname then. Spike, is it? I don't know, it just doesn't have that ring to it like William does." She smiled and reached up, running her fingers over his hands. She halted as she caressed the cool silver of one of his rings. "You like jewelry, _Spike_?" She pulled her hands away from his and put them behind her neck, unclasping the necklace she was wearing. She lifted the silver chain from her neck and grinned. "I have a present for you."

He glared at her. "I'm _really_ startin' t'dislike you." He growled as she placed the chain around his neck, the cross dangling from it scorching his chest.

----------

"We were down here." Dawn said, hoping down through the sewer grate. She landed with a splash, the sound echoing down the empty tunnel. Buffy followed behind her. "We came from that way." Dawn said, pointing to her right. "So he probably headed that way." She said, turning in the other direction.

Buffy sighed as she started to walk quickly. "Let's go."

"What are we supposed to do? I mean, it's not like we can track him. You should have brought Connor with you, he would have been more helpful than me."

"Then you would have had to go with Angel and now that you know you can kick his ass I'm not too sure if that would have been a good idea." Buffy said, keeping up the quick pace.

"I would have waited to stake him until we found Spike." Dawn said with a smirk.

"That's really nice, Dawn. Besides, vampires can only track something if there's blood." 

"Blood…such as that?" Dawn asked, stopping and pointing to the red-tinted water at her feet. 

"That can't be good." Buffy muttered, her face filling with worry. "Okay, that vampire tracking thing sounds like a good idea right now. Go back to the hotel, tell Angel that we need him here **now**. Fred and Gunn can keep researching."

Dawn nodded. "Alright."

"I'm going to see if I can find anything else around. When you guys get back here just see where this leads, alright?"

"Got it." Dawn said before turning and running back down the tunnel. "Be careful!" she called over her shoulder.

"I will." Buffy called back, her eyes falling to the redish liquid at her feet. "All right, Spike, where are you…." She whispered quietly to herself. She rose to her feet and began to walk down the tunnel once more, her eyes scanning the ground for any more signs that he had come through here. 

----------

"Angel!" Dawn called, rushing into the lobby. The vampire looked up from the counter, where he had been flipping through a large text book. Fred was on the computer behind him and Connor and Gunn were flipping through books on the couch.

"Dawn, what's wrong? Did you find him?" Angel asked, closing the book and walking around to the other side of the counter. "Where's Buffy?"

"No, but there was blood…" She said, breathing heavily from running the distance to the hotel. "Buffy's still down there looking, but she said to get you because you'd be able to find him a lot easier."

"Alright. Just tell me where I have to go." He said coolly.

"What? No, I'll take you there." Dawn said.

"Dawn, you're hurt. If this thing was strong enough to take Spike down then I'm sure you're not going to be much of a match for it. You can stay here and help the others look for information."

"I'm going with you." Connor said, standing.

"Connor, I want you to stay here too. I don't want you to get hurt." Angel said, turning to his son.

"But dad…"

"Stay here." He ordered as he turned and began walking towards the door. "Now where am I going?"

Dawn grabbed him by the arm and spun him around to face her. Her fist connected roughly with his jaw, causing him to stumble backwards and look at her in surprise. "You're not going anywhere without me." She growled. "I'm not the same little girl I was when you knew me, Angel. I'm going." She glanced back over her shoulder as Connor stepped up behind her, staring at Angel defiantly. She released the vampire's arm and stared at him. "I'm not standing around here when I don't know where he is. I have to help, Angel."

Angel's eyes went back between the two teens briefly. "Fine, but we're not going anywhere without weapons."

----------

"Spike?" Buffy called down the empty tunnel. She was sure she had just heard something. Her pace quickened. "Spike?!"

Spike's head shot up. Bugger. He glanced around the room. Matty was nowhere to be seen.

"Spike?!"

"Shit, Slayer. Why couldn't you listen to me and just go home…." He muttered, trying once more to get his hands free. His wrists were raw and red from pulling at the restraints, but he had to get free and get her away from here. He clenched his jaw, trying to control the pain shooting through him with every move he made. The girl had made pretty good work of him with her holy water and dagger, not to mention the nice cross shape he had burned into in his chest. The silver charm still rested on his flesh, a painful reminder of what he was every time he moved and it touched a new part of his skin.

Buffy's eyes locked on an opening above her, where a faint stream of light was falling down onto her. She looked around, and seeing no other alternative to get up there, she jumped. Her fingers clasped on the edge and she pulled herself up slowly. Rolling onto the hard ground, she stood. Her eyes scanned the area around her. She was in a basement of some sort. "Spike?!"

Dammit, she was getting closer. Spike pulled at his confinements once more, his eyes searching the room for Matty. Where the hell had the girl gone to? Taking an unnecessary breath, he pulled at the ropes with all his might. "…Bloody Hell!!" He yelled as he only managed to send more pain ricocheting through his body.

Buffy's eyes fell to the stairs as she heard him. "Spike…" She stood there a moment before she ran, taking the steps two and three at a time, nearly tripping as she reached the top and slammed open the door. She found herself in a candle lit room, the smell of scorched flesh hanging in the air. "Oh God…" She muttered, her eyes falling to the figure huddled in the corner. Rushing over to the vampire, she slid to her knees by his side. "Spike, God…" She said, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Buffy, get out of here **now**." He ordered.

"I'm not leaving you here." She said simply, her eyes falling to the chain around his neck. She grabbed it and pulled it from his neck, tossing it to the floor with a look of disgust. Reaching up, she began to work on getting the ropes off of his wrists. "Who did this?"

"Buffy, please, get out of here…" he pleaded, his eyes staring past her, watching for Matty.

"Spike, I'm not leaving without you." She said, getting one of his hands free. Her eyes went wide as she saw the damage he had done to his wrist trying to get free. She looked down at him as he winced, pity washing over her. Leaning down, she pressed her lips gently against his. "I'm going to get you out of here, I promise."

"Aww, now isn't that sweet?" 

Buffy stood and spun around, her eyes locking on the girl across the room. Her eyes narrowed. "You did this to him…"

"Hmm, pity, isn't it? He was so pretty before. Now if he had just agreed to help me he wouldn't be looking so bad right now, isn't that right William?" She said, cocking her head to the side at the vampire. He just glared at her.

"Help you? Help you do what?" Buffy asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh, it wasn't really all that big a deal, I just wanted him to help me…"

"Help you do what?!" She demanded once more.

The dark haired girl grinned.

"Buffy, go…" Spike demanded.

"What did you want with him?" Buffy asked flatly, taking a step towards her.

"I wanted him to help me." She said once more, closing the distance between them. She grinned widely. "I wanted him to help me kill you."

TBC…


	21. Why won't you listen?

"You wanted him to help you… kill me?" Buffy asked, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Aye." Matty said with a sigh. "But it seems poor William's lost his edge. Poor sap, doesn't even want to do what makes him happy anymore."

"Hmm, that's funny, because I **know** what makes him happy and killing me isn't it." Buffy said snidely.

"Mm, if I'd caught up with him a few years ago I'm sure he would have helped me." The dark haired girl said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well you didn't." Buffy said flatly. "And now I'm going to have to kick your ass for hurting him."

"Buffy…" Spike began.

"No, William, the girl wants a fight, I'll give her a fight." Matty said with a smirk. "It's amusing, really, a slayer defending a vampire. **That** vampire. I mean, he **has** killed two of your kind."

"Does it really look like I'm caring?" Buffy asked flatly.

Matty smiled. "No, it doesn't. That's amusing too, history's oldest Slayer is also the dumbest." Buffy glared at her before swinging a fist at her face. Matty ducked down, easily avoiding the blow. "Tsk, tsk. You know, neither of you two have very good manners. First he calls me names then you show up and try to hit me."

"You threatened to kill me." Buffy pointed out.

Matty rolled her eyes. "You know, if you really feel that that's a reason to resort to violence, fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." With that she swung, connecting his fist with Buffy's jaw and sending her flying backwards into the wall.

"Buffy!!" Spike yelled, watching as the girl fell to the ground only feet from him. He returned his focus to trying to free his other hand.

"Oh come on now, I thought you'd be more of a challenge." Matty whined, hauling the blonde up by her hair. "Just my luck, you're just as pathetic as the rest." She spun around, nailing the Slayer in the face with her boot. Buffy hit the ground once more.

Buffy pushed herself up from the ground, glaring at the girl in front of her. "You want pathetic? I'll show you pathetic." She lunged, shoving her opponent into the wall behind her. Slamming her elbow into her stomach, she reered back and slammed her head against hers. Matty chuckled and pushed her away, kicking at her head in the process. Buffy avoided the blow, but the girl grabbed her by the arm and slammed her back against the wall. Twisting her arm sharply behind her back to keep her there, she grinned.

"You're right. You really are showing me how pathetic you are." She said evilly. Buffy threw her head back, smacking it into her attacker's face. She was rewarded with a satisfying pop as Matty released her, blood flowing from her now broken nose. "Guess you do have a little fight in you, ey Slayer?"

"More than a little." She spat, jumping and knocking Matty to the ground with her foot. The girl rolled across the ground, landing a few feet in front of Spike. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed the dagger she had left on the ground nearby. She leapt to her feet and grabbed Spike's arm.

"Let me help you with that." She said sharply, punching him in the face. His vision faded as his head snapped to the side. Whipping the dagger through the air, she cut him free. His body slumped to the ground, barely conscious. Catching his hair in her hand, she held him up, the dagger point shoved roughly against his neck. She looked back up at Buffy, grinning. "Looks like your little pet here has gotten himself into a mess of trouble, isn't that so, _William_?"

Spike choked as he tried to swallow, the dagger pressing against his neck. "Get out of here, Buffy…" He managed.

"Let him go." Buffy commanded, glaring at the girl with raw hatred.

Her eyes looked up at the ceiling, as if she was thinking this over. She smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't think I will."

"Let. Him. Go." Buffy growled, taking a step towards them.

"Buffy, please…" Spike begged. He was silenced as Matty pressed the dagger further into his neck, drawing blood.

"Now, now Will, can't you see we're talking? It's not polite to interrupt." She scolded mockingly.

"And it's not polite to hold daggers to people's necks." He replied flatly.

She frowned. "You know, I do believe you're right." She pulled it away quickly. "How about this?" Buffy watched in horror as she brought the blade forward, burying it in the vampire's back. She twisted it, pulled it out, and released him, allowing him to slump forward. "Hmm, I don't think he liked that much either…"

Buffy lunged at her again, knocking the blade from her grasp. "I'll kill you." She growled, kneeing her in the stomach.

Matty laughed. "I told him you'd say that." She swung her fists back up, sending Buffy stumbling backwards. "Pity I had to knock him out, I wanted him to watch." She kicked again, forcing Buffy back against the wall. Buffy scowled and pushed away from the wall, ducking down as Matty swung again. She spun around and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards her. Slamming her arm across her neck, she sent her to the ground, gasping for air.

"What? Watch me kill you?" Buffy snapped.

"Quite the opposite, actually." She replied, grabbing Buffy's leg, sending her falling to the ground. She landed with a loud thump on her back. She went to get up, but Matty flipped over and straddled her, pinning her to the ground. Buffy tried to free herself, but she couldn't throw the girl from on top of her. Her eyes fell to Spike, who was still lying motionless on the ground. "Aww, poor Slayer. No one here to help you now." Matty said, grinning.

"That's where you're wrong."

Her head spun around. Angel stood behind her, a crossbow aimed at her head. The tip of the arrow was mere inches from her skull. She chuckled. "Another vampire, how fun." Her eyes drifted to the door where Connor and Dawn stood, each holding a rather large axe. "And some kiddies, how cute."

"Get up." Angel commanded. She obliged, rising to her feet slowly, her grin remaining in place. Buffy slid from under her and rose to her feet, glaring.

"I told you I'd kill you." The slayer said flatly.

Matty smirked. "I'm not dead yet." In one quick movement, she reached behind her, grabbing the crossbow from Angel. She brought it down on Buffy, knocking her to the ground. Before Angel had time to react, she swung it around, hitting him in the side of the head. Connor and Dawn rushed towards her, but they halted as she spun to face them, crossbow aimed. Angel helped Buffy up as Matty's eyes darted between everyone. 

"Leave them alone." Angel growled when he realized she still had the weapon aimed at Connor and Dawn.

"Now why would I do that?" She asked with a laugh. She quickly leapt into the air, bringing the blunt end of the bow across both their faces, sending them backwards. She backed towards the wall, giving herself some more distance from her adversaries. She stepped over an unconscious Spike, still smiling madly.

"Because I'll kill you if you do touch them again." Angel said flatly, his eyes flitting to where the teens were lying.

"Why does everyone always say that?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"'cause that's what we plan on doing." Spike growled, grabbing her leg and pulling, sending her falling backwards to the ground. She kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling across the floor once more. Buffy and Angel jumped forward, each grabbing her by an arm before she could get back on her feet and forcing her up against the wall. Angel used a free arm to pull a punch, pounding it into her face.

She chuckled, her eyes rolling up to face Buffy. "Congratulations, Buffy, you get the honor of killing a myth."

"No, I get the honor of killing a worthless bitch." Buffy ground out. She released her arm and grasped the girl's head, snapping her neck. Angel released her and they both watched as she fell lifelessly to the ground. Angel was the first to look away, rushing over to help Dawn and Connor. Buffy's eyes fell to the ground. "Spike…" She knelt down beside the vampire, pulling his unconscious form into her lap. She ran her fingers through hid hair, trying to draw his attention. "Spike?"

"Mmm…" He moaned, his jaw tightening as he woke up to the reality that his body was nearly in little pieces. 

"Shhh…" The slayer whispered, brushing the back of her hand across his forehead.

"…Buffy?" He choked out, trying to refocus his eyes. It was no use, everything remained blurry.

The slayer smiled and tightened her hold on him, wrapping her arms protectively around him. "God, I'm sorry…" She whispered, burying her head against his shoulder.

"For what?" He managed.

"Not getting here sooner…"

"S'not your fault…."

The slayer remained still for a moment, not letting him go. Reluctantly, she pulled back, but only enough to rest her head against his. "Come on, let's get you home."

TBC…


	22. Wake up call!

Buffy winced as Angel pressed a cold washcloth to her face, trying to minimize the bruise forming along her cheek. Giving him a small smile of gratitude, she put her hand over the cloth, holding it in place. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." He said, taking a step back.

"Did Dawn go up to bed?" She asked, standing. 

"Her and Connor are crashed on the couch. Long day." He explained, leaning back against his desk.

"Yeah…" she agreed., her eyes dropping to the floor. They drifted back up to him and she gave him a small, sincere smile. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Putting up with him… not staking him. You know, things along those lines…"

"As much as I hate to say it, I think I owed it to him for getting me out of the Pacific." He said with a small smirk.

"The fact that he _voluntarily_ saved you still wigs me out." She said, shaking her head. Her smirk faded and she dropped her gaze once more. "I-I should probably go upstairs, I don't want him to wake up…"

"…alone." The vampire finished for her, smiling. "Go on."

She smiled fondly at him before wrapping her free arm around his neck. "Thank you…" She whispered.

----------

Buffy shut the door to the room silently behind her, not taking her eyes from the prone form on the bed. Seeing as his room was lacking in the bed department, he had been tossed in hers. She grimaced when she noticed that a lot of the bandages on his torso had bled through. Sighing, she walked over to the nightstand where the first aid kit had been left and opened it. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she began to peel away the bloodied rags. Tossing them into the trash, she stood and walked into the bathroom, emerging a few moments later with a bowl of warm water and a few wash clothes. Sitting back down beside him, she took to cleaning the wounds.

"You don't have t'do this." 

Buffy smirked as he spoke, not even opening his eyes to look at her. "And why is that?" She asked, rinsing out the cloth.

"'cause you've done enough already." He answered simply, still not opening his eyes.

"Ah yes, you would be referring to the whole 'Saving-your-ass', right?" She asked with a smirk, drawing some gauze from the first aid kit.

"Right." He agreed, wincing as she taped one of the bandages in place.

"Sorry." She said softly, continuing to cover the wounds.

He opened one eye, peering at her curiously. "You're hurt…" He pointed out, opening both his eyes and focusing on the bruise adorning her face.

She smirked, finishing up her handy-work. "Believe me, if you could see yourself in a mirror you wouldn't think twice about it. You took quite a beating…"

"So I've noticed." He muttered, wincing as he went to sit up.

"Oh no you don't. You may have super-vamp healing powers, but you don't heal _that_ fast." She said, pushing him back down.

"So I just get to lay here?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Yup, all night. And maybe tomorrow, depending how you look in the morning." She said with a nod.

"So I don't get up 'til you decide I can, aye?"

"Looks that way. How's your back?"

"My back?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah, you know, the portion of your body that got poked with a rather sharp metal object? It didn't look too pretty earlier…"

"Oh yes, I seem to recall falling on my face after having something lodged in my spine." He said, a contemplative look on his face. His sarcastic look faded when he saw the smirk Buffy was giving him. "I'm fine, Slayer." He said, smiling at her.

"Good." She said simply, placing a small kiss on his forehead. "We need to get back home soon."

His smile faded as quickly as it appeared. "Buffy, I…"

"We're going home, Spike. The sooner the better." She informed him, smirking. "I'll be damned if I'm leaving you here to get your ass kidnapped again. Plus, despite the fact that he's being hospitable, I don't think Angel's gonna put up with you much longer."

"Slayer, can you _please_ just try to see this from where I'm coming from?"

"Tried. All I came up with was '_Buffy rode a stuffy bus two hours t'come find me, had t'face her old boyfriend **and** the fact that he's now a daddy, and got her arse kicked t'save me. I should go home with her_.'" She said, mocking his accent as she spoke.

"Real cute." He said, unable to stop himself from grinning. "But it's not that simple."

"I'm stubborn. I'll **make** it simple." She said simply, pulling her knees up to her chest. Resting her chin on her knees, she stared at him. He stared right back at her for a moment…. And then he reached over and gave her a good shove, sending her toppling off the bed.

"Go home." He ordered, grinning.

She sat there on the floor, scowling as he sat there with a half-smirk on his face, staring down at her. "Last I checked I didn't live on the floor." She pouted.

Sighing, he sat up, doing his best to mask the pain that simply moving entailed. He cocked his head to the side, his feet resting on the floor. "And last I checked you had much higher standards…"

"Than the floor?" she asked innocently.

"Than vampires." He corrected, unable to help smirking at her cockiness. "And the floor, I suppose, seeing as it's the same one I've been sleepin' on for the past few days."

Pulling her legs up underneath her, she leaned forward, taking his hands in hers. "The floor's just as good a place as any to sleep. And a vampire's…."

"…not good enough for you." he finished, giving her a 'Your-Father-Knows-Best' look.

"Well, yeah, that's sort of what I was going to say." She said with a nod, earning a confused look from the vampire in front of her. She grinned. "A normal vampire. Not you. You are way up there on that pedestal of 'Good Enough'." She added, giving his hands a small squeeze.

"Buffy, I'll never be good enough for you…"

"No, Spike, I think you went beyond 'Good Enough' a long time ago, I was just too blind to see it."

"Slayer, what on earth can I say to make you…"

"What, listen? Sorry, but I got an 'F' in that department. Ask Giles, he'll vouch for me." She said with a nod.

"Along with everyone else who's ever met you." He agreed. 

"Thanks, I absolutely **love** compliments." She said sarcastically.

"Hmm, same here." He said with a knowing look and a nod.

"Ahh yes, you and your ever inflating ego." The slayer muttered, rolling her eyes as she climbed to her feet and took a seat next to him.

"I dunno, you have this way of making it go pffft…" He said with a shrug.

"Don't worry, you have **plenty** to spare." She said with a smirk, crawling backwards and leaning against the headboard. "Now what do you say we forget about this whole conversation until tomorrow or next week or, hey, we can wait til next year for all I care."

"How 'bout never?" He asked, scooting back next to her.

"Even better." She said with a nod.

"I was kidding."

"I wasn't."

----------

"Well now, isn't that sweet?" Matty grinned, craning her neck to get a better look through the window. She held on tightly to a pipe running down the side of the building, one foot resting on a widow sill. 

_Her_ window sill. 

Giving the window a small tug, she pulled it open and swung herself inside the room, landing soundlessly on the carpet. Grinning, she walked towards the bed, her eyes twinkling at the couple lying there. "Well, seems the Slayer knows how to tend to a vampire's wounds. Hmm, pity…" An evil glint flashed in her eye as she pulled her dagger from her coat.

"Hmm, Spike?" Buffy muttered, sliding a bit closer to the vampire.

"What is it?" He asked, not fully awake.

"What are you doing?" 

"… nothing." 

"What was that noise?"

Spike cracked one eye open. "Bugger." Both eyes shot open and he grabbed the slayer, rolling off the bed with her. He hadn't even hit the ground when he was hauled back over the bed by his hair. Buffy shot off the ground, turning quickly to look back across the room. Matty stood there, grinning madly with Spike kneeling in front of her, her dagger once again positioned at his neck.

"Didn't I just kill you?" Buffy asked impatiently.

Matty laughed and tossed her head to the side, cracking her neck. "Nah, just gave me a bit of a stiff neck, that's all."

"Let him go." Buffy ordered.

"Do we _really_ need to go through this again? We both know I'm not going to let him go." Matty replied incredulously.

"Nope, really don't." Spike growled, reaching up and grabbing her wrist quickly. He twisted it sharply, resulting in a large pop. Matty dropped the blade and he stood, smirking.

Looking up from where she had her wrist cupped against her waist, she grinned. Grabbing it with her other hand, she twisted, sending another sickening pop sounding through the room. "I survived a broken neck you ninny, what harm is a little broken wrist going to do?" she asked sweetly, holding up her hand as if nothing had happened.

"Care to explain why you aren't in some unruly hell dimension?" Buffy asked, taking up a defensive stance.

"Hmm, perhaps it has to do with you not killing me." She said with a shrug, looking around the room. Her eyes shot to Spike. "And you, you disappoint me, mister. You go and act like you're an expert on your demon myths and then you don't bother to tell your girl how to kill me. Pity, could have saved yourself a lot of trouble."

"You know how to kill her?" Buffy demanded, looking at Spike.

"Well, I thought snappin' her neck would do the trick but apparently not." He replied, glaring at the dark haired girl.

Matty rolled her eyes. "And I thought this would actually be a challenge. Just my luck, you're just as stupid as the others." She shook her head and in one quick movement, kicked her blade from the floor and up into her hand. She pulled her arm back and launched the blade forward, lodging it into Spike's chest. The vampire let out an agonized scream.

"Spike!!" Buffy shouted, grabbing the blonde before he could fall to the ground. "God, you just don't get a break, do you?"

"Apparently not." He said between clenched teeth, pulling the blade back out.

"I do believe that's mine." Matty stated before launching herself into the air and nailing them both with a kick. She snatched the blade from the air as both her opponents flew into the wall behind them. Walking over to Spike, she swung her foot, nailing him in the head and knocking him unconscious. "He's annoying." She said simply as she watched the slayer climbed to her feet.

"I really don't like you." Buffy said, glaring.

Matty smiled. "I don't have a problem with you. Don't get me wrong, this is nothing personal. If you weren't the slayer I wouldn't give a second thought about killing you."

"Gee, I'm flattered." Buffy snapped.

Matty shrugged. "Guess we should get on with the killing then." With that she jumped at the Slayer, sending them both toppling backwards through the door and into the hallway. Buffy kicked her in the stomach, sending her even further down the corridor. Standing and running at her, Buffy slammed her arm across the girl's neck as she stood, causing her to fall once more. Matty coughed and grinned before spinning and sweeping her foot under Buffy. Buffy jumped to avoid it, but Matty jumped to her feet and caught the slayer in the stomach with her foot, sending her backwards down the steps. The Slayer landed with a crash at the bottom, slamming into the wall. Matty made her way down the stairs quickly, but about halfway down she was grabbed by the back of her jacket.

"Not a good idea." Angel growled into her ear before swinging her around. She slammed through the banister and landed with a harsh thump on the lobby floor. The vampire hopped over the broken banister, landing on his feet beside her as she stood.

"Buffy!" Dawn raced over to her sister from the couch.

"Connor, stay back." Angel demanded as he and Matty began to circle around each other. Connor made his way over anyway, giving the girl a predatorial gaze. "Connor." Angel snapped warningly.

"No." Connor spat back.

"Oh come on Daddy, let the boy help." Matty whined, grinning. She flipped backwards as Angel and Connor both lunged at her. Her fist sideswiped them as they charged her. Connor swung and she ducked, only to be met by Angel's fist in her face. Her head jerked back, but she kept her footing. Flipping back once more, she caught both father and son in the chest with her boots. Landing, she brought the blade across in a long arc, slicing into Angel's arm.

"Connor, Angel, heads up." Dawn shouted, tossing a sword to each of them. Grabbing an axe from the weapons cabinet for herself, she rushed forward to join them in the fight.

"Guys, down!" Buffy commanded, aiming a crossbow towards the melee. They all dropped and she fired. Matty knocked the arrow from the air with her dagger, grinning. Buffy threw the crossbow to the ground. "I never liked those things anyway." She grumbled under her breath before rushing the girl. The Slayer leapt over Angel before he stood and caught Matty around the waist, slamming them both into the ground.

"As much fun as this is, I'd prefer to kill you and get this over with." Matty growled playfully, kicking the slayer away. Connor and Dawn both rushed her as she stood, but she easily snatched Dawn's axe away from her and swung it around, nearly slicing into Connor's stomach. Dawn tried to go at her again, but she used the handle of the weapon to smash the girl across the face, sending her to the ground. Bringing the axe around once more, she knocked the blade from Connor's hand and kicked him, sending him hurtling backwards through the air. The teen slammed into Angel as the vampire stood, sending them both to the ground once more.

"Oh yeah, **loads** of fun." Buffy growled, hopping back to her feet. Grabbing Connor's discarded blade, she lunged at the girl. Matty ducked as the Slayer swung, narrowly missing her head. Buffy slammed the handle of the blade into her jaw as she stood, sending her stumbling backwards. The Slayer then spun the blade around, bringing it in an arc across her midsection. The metal of Matty's axe clashed with the blade as she blocked the blow. The girl laughed and used all her might to push against the blade and spin it from the Slayer's hands. As quickly as she could maneuver herself, she jumped to the slayer's side and swung the axe. Buffy jumped backwards, but not before the blade could slice her across her waist.

"Buffy!!" Dawn shouted, scrambling to her feet as her sister doubled over. She rushed towards her  as the girl stumbled backwards, but the teen was caught by her hair as she ran past Matty. Matty pulled the Dawnback against her roughly, holding the teen against her with the blade of the axe firmly against her neck.

"You really have a thing for hostages, don't you?" Buffy said spitefully, backing up a bit to stand alongside Connor and Angel, who were climbing up from the ground. She had her hands clutched to her stomach, blood oozing from between her fingers.

"Actually, I'd never tried it until I met you and your little vampire, but I've got to tell ya, damn it's fun!" Matty replied with a laugh. Dawn whimpered.

"Buffy, no." Angel barked, grabbing the girl as she went to attack Matty once more. Buffy stumbled, wincing at the pain in her stomach. Angel held her up with on arm and put his other in front of Connor, preventing him from trying to get the girl. "Just let her go, she has nothing to do with this."

"Oh I think she does, seeing as she swung an axe at me." Matty replied coolly, tightening her hold on Dawn as she backed away from the opposing trio. "Face it, no matter how hard you try or how many times you think you kill me, you'll _never_ win. I'm a legend, a myth. I'm immortal!" she said madly, laughing.

"But we can sure as hell beat the crap outta you."

Matty looked up to find Spike glaring at her from the second floor railing. He jumped, falling through the air towards her. Growling in frustration, she threw Dawn away just as Spike smashed into her, plowing her face first into the ground. She threw him off of her. "Can't you just stay unconscious!?" She yelled, glaring at him as he gritted his teeth and tried to stand. Kicking him in the side, she assured he wasn't getting up. "I didn't want to kill you, William, I just wanted your little bitch. But now I'm going to kill you as well!!" She scanner her eyes around the room, furious. "All of you." Her eyes returned to Spike and she raised the axe, ready to end him.

"Angel, what's that?" Buffy asked, staring at the area above Matty. Blue flecks of energy flashed around above her, growing larger and larger by the second.

Matty looked up, forgetting completely about that she was about to chop Spike's head of. The axe fell to her side. "What the f…" A large explosion sounded and what appeared to be a large blue lightning bolt shot from the air, nailing the girl in the chest. She flew across the room and slammed in the wall, her body convulsing from the energy scorching through her. 

"Buffy…" Spike crawled shakily to his feet and stumbled over to where Angel was holding Buffy up. Falling into his arms, they both stared at Matty, who's body was still engulfed by the blue energy. Suddenly it stopped and everyone watched as her small form fell to the ground, dissolving into a thin blue mist before vanishing completely. They all stared for a moment, not quite understanding what had just happened. Slowly, the beaten up gang turned back to where the energy had emerged.

"Um, hi guys!" Cordy greeted sheepishly, waving.

Everyone stared at her wide eyed for a moment, no one speaking. The silence was broken as Spike slumped to the ground, unconscious once more.


	23. Road Trip!

"What the hell…" Spike muttered, trying to adjust his eyes to the dim light surrounding him. He was aware of two things. One: He was still in great amounts of pain, and two: He was on the floor.

"Decide to join the land of the living?"

Spike rolled over, bringing into view the face of a grinning slayer. She was sitting back against the leg of Angel's desk, looking down at him. He shrugged as best he could while lying down. "Nah, just the land of the conscious."

"Darn, 'cause I was really hoping by some miracle you'd wake up with a pulse."

"Sorry luv, just lil ole living dead me." 

"Eh, I guess you'll do." She said with a shrug.

"Gee, thanks." He said, wincing as he sat up. "You mind if I ask why we're on the floor… in the Poofter's little office…" He added, looking around. 

"You fall down go boom, we too lazy to drag you upstairs." She answered.

"Then why are you in here? Last I knew you were still mobile, well, slightly… How's your stomach?"

"Still slicey." She replied, lifting up the t-shirt she was wearing to reveal a rather bloody bandage adorning her middle. Rolling it back down, she sighed. "And I wasn't gonna make you sleep downstairs by yourself."

"You passed out too, din't you?" He asked with a smirk.

She grinned. "Yup. But even if I hadn't I still would have slept down here."

The vampire shook his head. "I'm never gonna get you, Summers, you know that?"

"Well, you got plenty of time to figure me out."  She said knowingly.

Spike remained quiet for a moment. "Guess I do…"

"So you're coming home?" She asked softly.

He sighed, running a hand over the back of his neck. "I didn't think it was possible, but I seem t'get my ass kicked here more so than I do back on the Hellmouth. Strange, really." His face scrunched up in thought.

"It's about time you got up." 

Buffy and Spike both looked up from their seats on the floor to find Cordelia staring at them from the door, holding two glasses in her hands.

"You've only been asleep for like fifteen hours now. Here." She said, handing Spike one of them.

He looked down into it skeptically. "Blood. Nummy."

"I didn't know what you'd want, so you get coffee." She said with a shrug, handing the other cup to Buffy.

The slayer took the cup, giving the girl a small smile. "Thanks."

"Hey, what was up with the fireworks last night? Neat little trick you got there." Spike asked, having already finished of his meal. Buffy gave him a disgusted look.

"No fireworks, just inter-dimensional discharge." Cordelia explained calmly.

Buffy and Spike both stared at her blankly. "So…. Matty's dead, right?" Spike finally asked.

"If by dead you mean floating around some Hell dimension in millions of little pieces, then yeah, she's dead."

"Right…" Buffy muttered, nodding. An uneasy silence fell over the room, it's occupants looking about, fidgeting. 

"Where's my coat?" Spike asked, looking over at Buffy, a serious expression on his face.

Buffy stared at him like he was an idiot. "Your…coat?"

He shrugged. "S'not like you lot were talkin' bout anythin' important. Where's my coat?"

"And your coat's important?"

"Bloody right it is." He said indignantly, standing. He moved a bit too fast, causing a rush of pain to shoot through him. He clenched his jaw, trying to avoid the fact that he _was_ an idiot. "…ow."

"Way to go, Superman." Buffy commented, standing herself. She accomplished the task a bit slower, avoiding most of the pain-factor.

"Wow. Just like old times. You show up and everyone gets their asses kicked." Cordy observed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Glad I went for the fashionably late entrance."

Buffy winced, unconsciously placing a hand over her stomach. "How are the others? I mean, injury wise. They all took a pretty good beating."

"They're pretty black and blue, but you two seemed to have gotten off the worst." She answered, nodding.

"Yay for us." Spike muttered sarcastically.

Buffy grimaced. "Yeah….yay…"

----------

"Dawn, turn it off and put your stuff in the car." Buffy ordered, shutting the television her and Connor were watching off.

"Hey." Dawn protested, glaring at her sister. Connor just kind of slunk back into the couch.

"Now." Buffy commanded. "We're pushing getting back before sunrise as it is."

"Why can't we just take the bus back? I don't want to drive two hours with Angel…" Dawn complained as she stood, heading over to the stairs to get her bags. "No offense." She added, looking back over her shoulder at the vampire's son. He shrugged, evidently not caring.

"Neither does Spike, but the next bus doesn't leave until noon and Spike's not really up for a daytime trip." Buffy explained.

"What about his bike? Is he just leaving it here?" The teen asked as she walked towards the door.

"No." Spike said sharply, descending the stairs, a slight limp to his step. "I'll come back an' get it in a few days. M'not really up for ridin' the thing right now."

"Darn, cause I'd really prefer to ride back with you." Dawn complained, rolling her eyes.

"Make junior ride with us." Spike suggested, pointing at Connor.

"I don't know…" Connor said, shaking his head. He may have been in this world for a few months now, but he still got a bit carsick.

"Oh come on, keep the girl company." Spike said with a grin. "'sides, don't you want to see your Uncle Spike off?"

"Come on, it won't be so bad." Buffy coaxed. "You can meet the gang when we get back."

"Hey, Angel wants to know if you guys got everything out there." Cordelia chimed, walking through the door.

"Yeah, Dawn just took the last of it out." Buffy said with a nod. "So how's it feel to be home?"

"Eh, tiring. I'm here for like two minutes and I'm already killing something." Cordy said.

"Betcha got lots of catchin' up to do."

"Not really." She answered, placing her hands on her hips. "I mean, seeing as Angel was underwater the whole time I was gone it took him like two minutes to explain what he did while I was gone. Then we talked about…. other stuff." She looked up to find Spike smirking at her. "Anyways, me, Fred, and Gunn are gonna hang out when you guys leave. They actually have things to talk about." 

"See that Shrimp?" Spike asked, turning back to Connor. "Go with us or hang out with these ninnies until tomorrow night."

----------

"Are we almost there?" Dawn quipped.

"About ten minutes." Angel replied. "Why?"

"Buffy and Spike are hogging the seat." The girl whined, trying to push the sleeping Slayer over.

Angel grinned, looking in his rearview mirror. "I'll try to hurry."

"Thanks…" Dawn muttered, slouching further into the seat.

"Nibblet, I told you once and I'm not gonna tell you again." Spike warned, not opening his eyes from where he was 'sleeping'. "You don't use your manners when talking to the Poof." He heard Connor chuckle slightly from the passenger seat.

Dawn smirked. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Don't tell her that." Buffy said, jabbing Spike in the side.

"You're awake too!?" Dawn whined. "You've been sitting there while I tried to get you to scoot over and you've been awake? You couldn't have scooted over?"

"I'm comfortable…" Buffy muttered.

"And I'm not, so scoot over." Dawn ordered, shoving her sister.

"Hey. Don't make me pull this car over." Angel warned.

Buffy rolled her eyes and scooted closer to Spike. "Happy?"

"No, we're still in the car with Angel." Dawns said simply.

"Dawn!" Buffy scolded. Spike laughed. "Don't encourage her." 

"M'not encouraging nothin'." He said in his defense, catching a glimpse of the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign as the drove past. He sat up. "Hey! You stupid sod, you missed the sign!" Buffy pulled him back down, smirking.

"This is where you live?" Connor asked, looking around at the many houses and small businesses.

"'lot smaller than LA, innit?" Spike chirped.

"Yeah."

"Head over to the Magic Shop, I told everyone we'd meet 'em there." Buffy told Angel. He nodded and turned down the appropriate street. A few moments later he parked the car in front of the shop.

"Home sweet home." Spike muttered, hopping over the side of the car. "Come on luv."

"Stop with the gentleman act, you're scaring me." Buffy warned, accepting his hand as he helped her from the car. He just smirked and led her towards the shop.

"Buffy!" Willow was the first to spring up from the table, enveloping her friend in a hug. "You're home."

"Obviously." Buffy ground out, wincing.

"Oh, sorry." Willow said, pulling away. "What's wrong?"

"Boo-boo." Buffy explained, lifting her shirt to share her battle wound.

"Let me be the first to say –ow." Xander said, walking over to her.

"I said that last night." Buffy said with a smirk. Willow, Xander, and Anya looked at Spike with blank expressions.

"What? I din't do anything. Bloody dirty minded brats…"

"Oh Buffy, come on. What's with this?" Xander said in an exasperated tone as Dawn walked in, Connor and Angel following on her heels. "It was bad enough that you had to go get Bleach Boy, but did you have to bring Soul Boy back too?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "He drove us back. He's heading home after sunset."

"Who's the kid?" Anya asked, pointing to Connor. The teen dropped his gaze to the floor sheepishly.

"That would be Connor." Buffy explained.

Spike slapped the kid on the back, grinning. "He's Peaches' kid."


	24. Adios, Peaches

Everyone remained silent, staring at Connor. The teen's eyes searched the faces around him, studying their confused expressions. Buffy punched Spike in the arm, scowling. "Way to put it."

"You have a kid? When did you get a kid? Why didn't we know you had a kid?" Willow rambled, looking back and forth between Angel and Connor.

"Willow, chill." Buffy interrupted. "It's not as complicated as it seems…" The Slayer's face scrunched up. "…well, actually it's a lot more complicated than it seems."

"Let me handle this, Slayer." Spike said, He looked at Connor before pointing to the trio standing in front of them. "'right Junior, that's Whelp, Red, and Anya. They say hi, now let's go home." 

Buffy punched him again. "Ignore him." She told Connor. "That's Willow, Xander, and…Anya."

Anya shrugged. "He doesn't have some silly nickname for me."

"Don't you feel left out?" Spike asked sarcastically, walking past the gang and taking a seat at the table.

"I'm glad to see that when you lost your soul you didn't lose your attitude." Xander shot sarcastically at the blonde. Spike flicked him off without looking up.

"Spike, stoppit." Buffy commanded.

"I have to admit though, even for Xander that comment was pretty rude." Anya chimed.

"Why does everyone always take his side?" Xander exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Because I'm lovable." Spike said knowingly, grinning. "And you're not."

"Xander can be lovable." Willow said, defending her friend. "Xander, show 'em the Snoopy Dance, that's lovable."

"I'm not doing the Snoopy Dance here!" Xander screeched.

"The Snoopy Dance? You mean that little kicky thing Snoopy does when he's _really_ happy?" Dawn asked, smirking.

Willow nodded eagerly, grinning. "He does it every Christmas."

"Come on, Whelp, we could use some entertainment. God knows LA was just a barrel of fun." Spike said, not wanting to miss another chance to humiliate the boy. He rocked back in his chair, putting his boots up on the table.

"Spike, he's not going to do the Snoopy Dance." Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you." Xander uttered.

"Fine then. You do it." Spike said with a grin, staring at Buffy.

"If you're so desperate to watch someone do the Snoopy Dance, you do it." She shot back.

He shrugged. "Never been one to watch cartoons, I don't know how it goes."

"Just stand really stiff and kick your legs around a lot." Dawn explained. "Oh, and make sure you look up and smile really stupid."

"Pass." The vampire said, pulling a cigarette from his coat.

"Xander makes that weird cooing noise during sex, that's kind of cute." Anya said with a shrug. Everyone grew quiet and stared at her.

"God I missed Sunnydale…" Angel muttered, giving Connor a sympathetic glance.

----------

"You go to school here?" Connor asked, eyeing the large building as they walked past.

"Yeah. It's not really as big as it looks from out here. The old high school was a lot bigger, but Buffy blew it up." Dawn said with a shrug, running her fingers along the chain link fence surrounding the schoolyard. "Where do you go to school?"

"I don't."

Dawn smirked. "Lucky." Looking over, she found him staring at the ground as they walked. "I mean, it's cool that you don't have to do homework or anything. I guess it kind of sucks that you don't get to see anyone your own age."

Connor shrugged. "I never had any friends until I got to this world. Sunny was my friend, but she…"

"Sorry." Dawn said, giving him a sympathetic look.

"It's alright. I don't like big groups of people anyway."

"Betcha the Scoobies wigged ya out a  bit." Dawn said knowingly.

"They were…odd." He replied with a small smile. "Especially the guy. What was his name?"

"Xander. And yeah, Xander qualifies as major weird. He's funny though, but he rips on Spike a lot."

"Spike doesn't seem so bad. For a vampire, at least."

"Spike's like the coolest vampire ever." Dawn said simply. "He like used to be this bad ass who killed two Slayers until the government put this chip in his headso he couldn't hurt humans, only demons. He's been helping Buffy ever since."

"And they fell in love." He added.

Dawn grinned. "Yeah."

----------

"God I hate you…" Buffy muttered, watching from her seat on the floor as Spike dunked a chocolate chip cookie into his glass of blood. "That's the most revolting thing I've ever seen."

"Then don't look." He said simply, shoving the cookie into his mouth as he slunk further back into the couch. He was sprawled leisurely across it, a plate of cookies resting on his chest.

"Why can't you just act like a normal vampire?"

"And try to kill you?" He suggested, arcing his eyebrows as he devoured another cookie.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Fine, you win. Eat your stupid cookies."

"That was the plan." He said coyly, returning his eyes to the television. "Where'd Peaches get to?"

"He's back at the shop with Anya. He says the shop has some pretty useful magick books. He wanted to go through 'em and see if he could use any before he left." Buffy explained, resting her head back against the couch.

He shrugged, dipping another cookie into the red liquid. "Poof takes a vacation and spends his time studying. What fun."

"Would you prefer he hung out here all day?"

"Let 'im study." Spike said quickly, reaching over her head and setting his cookies and blood on the coffee table. "So, how's your belly holding out?"

"Eh…" She answered.

"Eh?" He questioned, sitting up. "What kind of answer is that?" She shrugged. Rolling his eyes, he slid down to sit next to her on the floor. "Lemme see."

"Why? Unless you can heal things with your eyes it's not gonna do much good." She replied.

"Wise ass." He fired back, grinning. Buffy rolled her eyes and with a defeated sigh raised her shirt. "You sure you don't need stitches? That's pretty gross lookin'…" He said, making a face.

"I'm fine." She said, giving him a small smile. "Promise. Besides, I'm not big on hospital visits. They give me the wiggins."

"Baby."

"I have my reasons, the main one being that creepy Freddy Krueger type demon I had to fight when I was sick a few years ago. It was really traumatizing." She explained.

"Poor Slayer." He said, pulling her closer.

"Poor me." She agreed, staring down at his hand as he wrapped it around hers. She pulled it up, examining it.  "Where's your nail polish?" she asked with a smirk.

"Africa was lacking in the beauty department." He explained with a shrug. "Why do you care, anyways?"

She shrugged. "Just noticed. I don't think I've ever seen you without your horribly chipped gothic manicure."

"Now you're worried 'bout my looks?" He asked with a smirk.

"You didn't do your hair this morning either." She pointed out, swatting a loose curl away from his brow. "What's next, no coat?"

He wrapped his duster tightly around him, pouting. "No bloody way."

"Just a question." She said innocently, grinning. "Besides, the curls are cute."

"Ya think?" he asked, looking up as she ran her fingers through his hair.

She nodded. "But you just wouldn't be you without the coat." The girl added as she straightened the collar on said coat. They both jumped as the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Spike said simply, placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her from standing. She watched as he sauntered down the hall to get the cordless. "'ello?"

_"Spike? Why on earth are you answering Buffy's phone?"_

"Nice t'talk to you too, Rupes." Spike muttered, rolling his eyes as he walked back into the living room. "S'for you." He said, handing the phone down to the Slayer.

"Can you say 'duh'? It's my house, of course it's for me." She said with a grin, snatching the phone from him as he sat back down beside her. "Hello?"

_"Buffy. How are you?"_

"Giles! Hey. How's things on the English front?"

"Quite good, actually. Willow called and informed me that you killed Matticks when you went to retrieve Spike. Is that true?"

"In a sense. Cordelia did most of the killing."

_"Cordelia?"_

"Long story. But yeah, the Slayer of Slayers is dead."

"Good, good. Anyways, that's not why I'm calling you."

"You're not about to tell me I'm going to die, are you? 'cause I'm kinda in a good mood and that would ruin it."

"Heavens no. Quiet the opposite, actually."

"Opposite? Of me dying?" she asked quizzically. "I'm going to live!! Oh goody!" She said in mock happiness, throwing her arms around Spike's neck. "Giles says I'm going to live!"

"Bloody great…." He muttered sarcastically, giving her a devilish grin.

Buffy stopped giggling and sighed. She could almost hear Giles cleaning his glasses over the phone. "Sorry Giles. So what's the news?"

"I just thought I'd tell you that I called in a favor. Well, a few, actually…. Seventeen to be exact."

"Seventeen? For what? Is the world about to end again?" She heard him chuckle.

"No, no, no. Call me tomorrow, you'll know by then…. And Lord knows I'm going to regret this with all my being."

"Giles? Stop with the cryptic! What did you do?"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Buffy." 

"Giles? Giles!" Buffy groaned and hung the phone up.

"What'd he want?" Spike asked, having resumed his cookie munching.

"To tell me that he called in a favor." She said flatly, staring at the phone.

"For what?"

"Good question. A question I'm going to get answered." She said with determination as she punched in Giles' phone number. "Giles? It's me… Giles? Giles!?" She punched the off button roughly. "He hung up on me!"

"I would have never guessed." Spike muttered, rolling his eyes.

Buffy scowled and dialed the number once more. Her eyes went wide. "He took the phone off the hook!"

"Bummer."

Buffy punched the vampire roughly. "I want to know what he did and I _don't_ want to wait until tomorrow."

"Patience is a virtue." Spike said knowingly.

"And it's one we both lack."

"'sactly." He replied with a grin.

----------

"Where you off to, luv?" Spike asked from his rather comfortable position sprawled across the couch. His eyes fell to Buffy, who was by the stairs shrugging into her jacket.

"Angel's leaving. I'm going to say bye." She said. A groan/whine escaped her throat when she noticed the hole adorning the right sleeve of her jacket. She pulled it off and scowled at it. "How is it every jacket I buy manages to get ruined within the first week of it's life and you can keep the same one in tact for _years_?" She demanded.

"Family secret." The blonde vampire replied simply, smirking proudly. His smirk faded as Buffy's jacket found it's way across the room and over his face.

"You're family's been dead for over a hundred years." She said matter-of-factly, crossing the room towards him. He plucked the discarded garment from his face and tossed it back to her.

"Not true." He stated as she stood over him, smirking.

"How so?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He straightened and grinned. "I got all the family I need right here… well, soon as Nibblet gets back, anyway."

Buffy gave him a sincere smile as she brushed a hand through his hair. Her smile then molded into a smirk. "What about Angel and Connor?"

Spike made a face. "Eh, I disowned Angel. The kid isn't so bad though."

"Good, then you can come with me to say bye." She said, hauling him up from the couch.

He scowled as she pushed him towards the door. "I'm **not** saying bye to Peaches."

"Don't have to." She replied simply. "You can say bye to Connor."

He grinned. "I'll go with you… on one condition."

She halted and smirked. "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to hate you for this?"

"You already hate me for the cookies." He reminded her. "Now come on upstairs for a few minutes, I just want to give Peaches a little surprise 'fore he leaves." Casting a devilish grin over his shoulder, he grabbed her hand and drug her up the stairs after him.

----------

"Anya?" Buffy called, glancing around the empty shop as Spike led her in by the hand, grinning madly.

"I'm up here!" the demoness called from the loft, not bothering to look down at them. 

"Where is everyone?"

"Xander and Willow left already."

"Where's Angel?" Spike asked, not wanting to wait another minute to have some fun with his sire.

"In the training room with Connor and Dawn, now will you go away? I'm trying to sort out these magic books we ordered. I think they ripped me off and took my money."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Sorry."

"Come on luv. There's fun to be had." Spike said eagerly, hauling her towards the training room.

"He's so going to kill you, you know that, right?" She asked with a smirk.

"It'll all be worth it." He said as he swung the door open. Buffy did her best to hold a straight face at the looks she got when she entered the room. Angel stood slackjawed while Connor and Dawn held back laughs. Putting on a serious face, Buffy cuddled closer to Spike, resting her head on his arm as they stood in the doorway.

"B-Buffy…you look…" Angel finally managed, a strange look crossing his face as he looked the Slayer over. The girl was adorning a pair of tight black pants and a tight, _revealing_ black tanktop. Her bright eyes were surrounded by heavy black liner, making them seem to pop out of her head. Her lips and nails were both black, adding to the dark visage.

Buffy pouted, burying her head further into Spike's jacket. "You don't like it?" 

Angel's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Spike just grinned and hugged the Slayer tightly. "Don't we just make the cutest couple?" Dawn and Connor continued to snicker.

Angel tried to form words again, but failed miserably, only managing a few squeaks and whimpers. Buffy lost it. She cracked up, clutching an arm around her injured stomach as she laughed. Dawn and Connor joined in the laughter and Spike chuckled. "See? I'm still evil." He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Angel. He made me do it." Buffy said between giggles, tears threatening to spill from her eyes from her fit of laughter. "I've got to admit though, you're face was just priceless. I mean, for a second there I thought you were going to vamp out…" she droned on, grinning. Angel just stood there, an unamused expression on his face as he stared at the goth-decked couple.

TBC…


	25. Surprise, surprise

"I look like a zombie." Buffy whined, leaning closer to the bathroom mirror as she tried unsuccessfully to scrub the dark makeup from her eyes. So far, all she had managed to do was smudge it so, making her look like a raccoon..

"Give it here." Spike demanded, taking the washcloth from her. She scowled as she turned to face him. "You have any baby oil?" He asked. Sighing, the Slayer opened the medicine cabinet and produced a bottle.

"What for?" she demanded, handing it off to him.

"It'll take it off." He said simply, pouring a bit onto the cloth and running some warm water over it. "Close your eyes." She obliged and he took to wiping the gobs of black makeup from her face. "There, all better." He proclaimed after a few moments.

She turned and looked in the mirror. "That's just scary."

"What is?" He asked, tossing the cloth absently to the floor.

Scowling at his messiness, she bent down to pick it back up. "That you know more makeup tricks than I do."

"I **wore** more makeup than you in the seventies." He said with a grin.

"And you say you're not poofy." She said enticingly as she walked out into the hallway.

"Hey, it takes a very masculine man to wear makeup." He argued in his defense, following her into her room. Buffy smirked as she plopped down onto the foot of her bed and tossed the washcloth atop a heap of dirty clothes that had accumulated in the corner.

"Really?" She questioned, eyes twinkling.

"Really." He assured her, hopping down onto the bed himself. Laying back and resting his head on a pillow, he crossed his boot-clad feet and closed his eyes.

"'kay then, girly man." She said with a grin as she pulled the unlaced, muddy boots from his feet and tossed them to the ground. "Don't wear these on my bed."

"Yes, oh self proclaimed God Of Everything." He said, not opening his eyes.

"You've given up your title?" She questioned, lying down beside him.

He thought about this for a moment. "We'll share it."

Rolling her head to look at him, she placed a hand on his forehead. "You feel okay?"

"Peachy. Why?" He asked, looking over at the girl, whose head was resting mere inches from his.

"You offered to _share_."

"I must be dying." He said simply.

"Must be." She agreed, turning back over so she was staring at the ceiling. They laid like that for awhile, heads resting together as they stared at the rather unamusing ceiling. "What do you think he did?"

"Who, Giles?"

"Mm hmm."

"Well, his idea of a favor would be having a lifetime supply of tea shipped to your house." Spike commented.

"Tea is good."

"Pet, I'm from England and I don't even like tea."

"You're a vampire."

"Still."

She sighed. "I don't like surprises."

"It's Giles. How much of a surprise could it be?"

"Good point." She said with a nod. "Probably just tea." She remained quiet for a few moments before groaning.

"What now?"

"Seventeen favors worth of tea?" She asked skeptically, looking over at him.

"A lifetime supply is quite a lot. Could be seventeen favors worth." He replied with a shrug. She didn't respond. Sighing, he turned to look at her, propping his head up on his hand. "Look, do I have to remind you again that this is _Giles_ we're talking about. The guy comes equipped with three whole facial expressions. His 'Dear-Lord' look, his 'I-saw-that-in-a-book-somewhere' look, and his 'Just-shoot-me-my-Slayer-and-her-little-friends-are-driving-me-mad' look. How bloody surprising can this favor be?"

"Did you know he only cleans his glasses when he doesn't want to look at us?" She asked knowingly.

"Did you know he has a hefty supply of exotic porno magazines under his mattress?" He asked in the same tone. Buffy's eyes went wide in disbelief. Was he actually telling her this?! "What? Don't think I didn't snoop around when I was stayin' there. Oh, and you know that little wooden box on the bottom shelf of the bookcase with all the arrows innit? Well, if you lift the tray up…"

She clasped a hand firmly over his mouth. "Please don't tell me."

"Why not?" He asked with a grin as he pulled her hand away.

"Some things are better left unknown."

"Such as what his seventeen favors were for?" He offered, wondering if she'd just give up on it and get some sleep already.

"No." She pouted, flopping back down. "I want to know." They sat there not speaking once more, eyes locked on the ceiling.

"So anyway, you lift the tray up…" He began once more before being cut off by a giggling Slayer. She slammed her hand back over his mouth and sat up, sitting down on the vampire's stomach.

"No more creepy Giles secrets." She said firmly, both hands now held over his mouth, which would have proved to be a problem had he needed to breath. "Promise?"

He nodded.

She gave him a warning glare before pulling both hands away. He remained quiet, merely grinning at the girl perched on his stomach. "What's so funny?" She finally asked.

"What's under the tray." He said simply. "Funny as all Hell."

"Hell isn't funny."

"How would you know? You haven't been there. Could be loads of fun… or that could just be my wishful thinkin', seeing as sooner or later I'm gonna be spendin' an eternity there."

Buffy frowned, sliding off of him and sitting with her legs crossed beside him. "Don't say that."

"Why not? S'true. You'll die and go to Heaven and I'll die and go to Hell. S'all pretty much basic knowledge, Slayer. Slayer good, vampire evil. Slayer goes to Heaven, vampire goes to Hell."

"Your delusional." She said flatly, lying back down beside him.

"How so?"

"You only **think** your evil. It's all in your head." She said informatively, poking him on the forehead.

"Am too evil." He argued. She snorted in reply. "I am, you silly git."

"Really? Well then, Big Bad, what, beside the whole making Angel into a bumbling idiot, did you do today that was _evil_?"

He thought about this for a moment. "Oh, you know those little 'Need a penny, take a penny' things at the checkouts at gas stations?" 

"Yeah."

"Well, t'day when I went in t'get my smokes, I took all the pennies."

Buffy remained deathly silent and blinked a few times before breaking out into hysterics, burying her head in his shoulder as she laughed. "Yep, you're still the Big Bad alright." She managed between giggles.

"Damn right I am." He said with a smile, wrapping his arms around the giggling girl. "And fourteen cents richer."

"Wow, total richness." She said with a nod. "What do you plan on doing with your fortune?"

"… I can make a one and a half minute long distance call…. to Argentina…jus' for the Hell of it."

"You must be proud." She said playfully, patting him on the chest as she laid her head back down on his shoulder. "But our long distance calling plan is only for in calls made to the continental US. Your gonna need more than fourteen cents."

"Bugger."

"We could always go put em into one of those 'Need a penny, take a penny' things at a gas station." She suggested helpfully.

"Nah, some ninny'll just come along and take em all like a Poof."

"Some people are just rude." She agreed.

"Completely. They deserve to be killed."

"Hand me that stake over there." She ordered, pointing at the stake lying on her nightstand. He just laughed before they both fell silent.

"One hundred forty-one dollars and twelve cents…" He said suddenly after the lengthy pause.

"Huh?"

"Well, there's three gas stations in Sunnydale. I figure, we go to em everyday and steal fourteen cents from their little penny trays. That's forty-two cents a day, two dollars and ninety-four cents a week, eleven dollars and seventy-six cents a month, and one hundred forty-one dollars and twelve cents a year."

"… You should _really_ start helping Dawn with her math homework." She muttered.

"I'll do just that."

"After we steal pennies?"

"After we steal pennies."

"'kay."

 ----------

Buffy whimpered, pulling the blankets more tightly around her small frame. Rolling over, she went to cuddle up against Spike, only to find he was in the process of not-being-around-when-he's-needed, AKA when Buffy's cold. She slowly peeled her eyes open to find the blonde standing in front of her window, staring at the closed blinds. "Get over here 'fore you become a crispy critter." She muttered, acknowledging the sunlight streaming through the sides of the blinds.

He didn't answer.

"Would you lay back down? It's too early t'be up." She whined, slamming her face back into her pillow and pulling a blanket over her head.

"Slayer?"

"If you're gonna tell me that there's a big load of tea makin' it's way t'the house, I don't care." She mumbled.

"Slayer…"

"Shut up, stupid…British guy…."

"Buffy."

Groaning, she flung the blanket off her head. She looked up in time to see Spike grabbing the cord of her blinds, ready to open them. "Spike!" She shouted in an exasperated tone as she launched herself at him. She had planned on pushing him away from the window, but in her morning gracefulness she got her foot caught in her blanket and tripped. Instead of shoving the blonde away from his impending fiery doom, she grabbed onto his shoulders to keep from falling and only succeeded in sending them both toppling to the floor, right as he pulled the blinds up.

The Slayer let out a small yelp as she threw herself over the idiotic vampire, trying her best to block the sunlight now flooding the room. She laid on top of him for a few moments, her eyes clenched shut and her hands clutching his t-shirt, expecting him to burst into flames at any second.

"Buffy…"

She didn't move.

"Buffy?" He pleaded, sounding rather scared.

Opening her eyes, she hesitantly brought her head up so she could look down at him.

"Does tea have caffeine?" He squeaked, fear evident in his voice.

"Uh-huh…" She muttered, staring in astonishment at the sunlight draping over his face.

"And caffeine gets rid of stress?" He asked, still confused as to why he wasn't visiting the big ashtray in the sky…or the ground.

"Uh-huh…" came her absent reply.

"Call Giles…tell 'im we need tea…lots and lots of tea …"

"Uh-huh…." She muttered once more, not really acknowledging what he had just said as she sat up, perching herself on his stomach once more. She cocked her head to the side, studying his confused expression with wide eyes. Slowly he sat up, Buffy sliding into his lap. He and the Slayer sat there, staring at each other, confused. 

"Buffy…I…" He began shakily, but didn't get a chance to finish. Buffy leapt forward and hugged him fiercely, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

She pulled away and stared at him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "What the Hell did you do?" She asked softly.

He shook his head slowly, nearly crying himself. "Why the bloody Hell couldn't he just send tea…"

TBC…


	26. The Grand Finale

Buffy slowly turned her eyes to look at the ex-vampire sitting beside her on the roof. He was squinting slightly as he stared blankly ahead, his eyes not used to the bright sunlight. Sighing, she pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. They must have been up here for hours now, him lost in his own thoughts and her yearning to know what he was thinking. She let him be though, unsure as to how he was feeling about this, it wasn't everyday he woke up…well, not a vampire… or whatever he was.

She titled her head to the side so her cheek was resting on her knees and she could watch him. He was looking over the sunlit landscape absently, seeming to have forgotten she was there altogether. He looked like a lost child, unsure what to do with himself. Sighing, she slid her hand over his, giving it a slight squeeze. His head shot quickly to her and she gave him a small smile. When he didn't move, she slid closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"My head hurts." He said with a small sniffle as he tilted his head to the side, resting it against hers.

She let out a small chuckle. "It'll go away…" They sat like that for a few moments, neither speaking.

"Buffy?"

Buffy made a face and looked down to see Willow walking around the house, looking for her. "I'm up here, Will."

Willow looked up and smiled, books in hand. "Hey Buff, hey Spike, I just came by to…" She paused and looked around. Something was wrong. Her face scrunched up as she looked back up at Buffy…and Spike…on the roof…in the sun…no fire. "Holy bajeezus! Spike?! What are you doing?! I mean, hello, daytime! You're gonna catch on fire…anytime now…but you're… not. Why aren't you on fire?!" She rambled quickly.

"Giles..." The ex-vampire mumbled melodramatically, pouting slightly.

"Giles? Giles did this? How did Giles do this? When? _Why? _Are you sure? Giles wouldn't do something like this, would he?" Willow asked quickly.

"Good question." Buffy muttered.

Spike's face scrunched up. "Which one?"

"How." Buffy said simply, her head turning as the phone rang. "Speak of the devil." She mumbled as she crawled back through her window to answer the phone, leaving a rather disorientated Spike and stunned Willow outside.

"So… nice day, huh?" Willow asked conversationally from below.

Spike looked down and gave her a strange look. "Uh, yeah, guess so."

"You should probably go shopping. It's gotta be hot sitting out in the sun with all black on."

"…right. Clothes." He looked down at his black jeans and long sleeved black shirt. Come to think of it, he was rather uncomfortable. Red was right, it was bloody well hot.  Sighing, the blonde hopped down from his seat, landing in a semi-crouch next to the redhead in the grass.

"So, uh…yeah. Did I mention that it was a nice day?" The girl said quickly, watching him curiously as he stood.

"Do believe so, Red." He said absently, looking around the sunlit yard with squinty eyes. It looked rather different than it did at night.

"Sunglasses." Willow said suddenly.

"Whot?" He asked, her statement catching him off guard.

"We could get you some sunglasses. You're all squinty." She stated, pointing at his narrowed eyes. He stared at her blankly, quiet. She swung her hands back and forth, running out of conversational topics to hold with the former vampire.

"Let's go get some coffee." Spike finally said, turning and walking back inside the house.

"Okay." Willow agreed hastily, following after him.

----------

"Spike?" Buffy called, looking around the corner as she descended the stairs. After getting off the phone with Giles she had found her roof empty and her yard void of Willow.

"In here." Came the reply from the living room.

"Didja fall off the roof?" The Slayer asked the blonde lying across her couch. 

"Jumped." Willow exclaimed from her seat on the coffee table, on which, ironically, three cups of coffee sat as well. 

Pushing Spike over slightly, the Slayer sat down beside his stomach. "I talked to Giles."

"And…" He prompted.

"And he made you alive?" Willow offered.

"Not quite." Buffy said with a smirk. Spike gave her a confused look. 

Taking his hand, she placed it over his chest. "Feel that?"

"Feel what?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You're only slightly less dead than yesterday."

"Slightly?" Willow asked, giving her friend an odd look.

"Well, technically, you're still dead. You've just acquired a hefty supply of magic sunscreen. Crosses, holy water, stake to the heart, they'll all still kill you... or hurt like Hell. But hey, stake to the heart, that'll kill anyone, only difference is you'd just turn to dust instead of bleedin' on the carpet." She explained.

"Saves on the price of crematin'…" He mumbled.

"It's easier to get out of the carpet too." Willow commented with a nod.

"Thanks Red." Spike muttered, giving her a strange look. "Glad to know I'll be spending eternity in a Dust Buster…"

"Spike?" Buffy asked, interrupting their banter.

"… you forgot to mention something, din't you?"

"Sorta…"

He sighed. "The big part, right?"

"Mmm hmm…"

"Right then, bad news time, ey? Let's get it over with then."

Taking a deep breath, she pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. "You're going to die."

Insert the look of a thoroughly confused vampire and a bewildered ex-witch.

"He said, well, he said you'd age, like a human, you know? You'd age, a-and eventually die." The Slayer finished sheepishly, giving him a wary look. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"Fuck…" He muttered, falling roughly back into the couch cushions. He placed his palms over his face, thinking. 

"Hey." Buffy said, pulling his hands from his face. "What do you say me, you, and Willow go for a walk? Outside, in the sun. You know, to think things out... work on your tan…" He continued to stare at her blankly. Leaning down, she placed a small kiss on his lips and grinned. "We can hit the gas stations on the way…"

He smiled slightly.

----------

**Three weeks later**

"Nibblet! Where's the bloody mail?!" Spike called from the kitchen, looking under the random magazines and previously opened envelopes scattered on the table.

"In the living room!" Came the reply from upstairs. The blonde rolled his eyes and marched into the living room, his blue eyes scanning the table. Empty. They went to the desk, where a stack of letters and ads were stacked. He snatched them up, flipping through the envelopes.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" Buffy asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"What d'you think, missy?" He asked with a smirk.

"This?" She offered, holding up a large yellow envelope. He stared at her for a moment, then lunged, letters still in hand, trying to grab it from her. She giggled, ducking away from him and dashing into the kitchen.

"Give it here!" He ordered as he followed, grinning at the girl. She stood on one end of the kitchen, taking care to keep the table between them as he circled around.

"What is it?" Dawn asked as she walked in. Buffy turned to answer and Spike used the distraction to his advantage, leaping over the table and grabbing her by the waist. She stuck her arm out, holding the envelope away from him.

The Slayer giggled as he continued to try and grab the envelope from her. "It's from Giles." Buffy explained, trying to answer her sister's question. "Remember how I told… ow! Did you just bite me?!" She shot an accusing glare at Spike. He grinned and she rolled her eyes, returning her gaze to Dawn as she continued to hold the envelope away from him. "Remember how he said he called in tons of favors?"

"Yeah." Dawn replied casually, sitting down as she watched the two wrestle for the envelope.

"Well, only six of em were actually t'make Spike…" She didn't finish her sentence as she was thrown into a fit of giggles. Spike grabbed the envelope with one hand as he continued to tickle her with the other. Buffy pulled away, jabbing him in the side with her elbow as he tore it open. "Only six of 'em made Spike safe against UV rays, the other eleven were for those." She said, nodding towards the papers he was pulling out.

"What are they?" Dawn asked curiously, leaning forward. Buffy pulled something away from the blonde and tossed it on the table for her sister to see.

Dawn giggled. "A driver's license?"

"And other legal crap." Buffy added. "Spike's an official person now. And your second legal guardian, to boot."

"Uh, Spike?" Dawn asked, snickering.

He looked up at the girl, who was smirking at his new license. "You laughin' at my picture, Bit?" He asked in mock fury.

"Nope. Picture's okay, but look at your middle name." She said, handing it back to him.

"Alexander?! Bloody fucking Hell, I'll kill 'im!!" He protested, completely disgusted by the fact that he was now officially the Whelp's namesake.

Dawn and Buffy just shook their heads as he continued to shot obscenities at his papers. Reaching over, Buffy snatched the rest of the mail from his hands and began to sort through it, tossing the bills on the table to be dealt with later.

"What's that?" Dawn asked, giving her sister a curious look as she ripped open a white envelope.

"It's from the school…" The Slayer mumbled, her eyes scanning over the paper. 

Spike looked up from the papers he was reading to find Dawn shifting nervously in her seat. Looking over at Buffy, he saw that her face had visibly paled. "What is it, luv? Report card?"

"Do we still have that robot?" She asked quietly.

"No, why?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"Parent-Teacher night…" She mumbled, holding the letter up.

~FIN~


End file.
